Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce barriers for people seeking to self-build their own properties in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December 2024 includes measures designed to strengthen support for self and custom build housing by promoting mixed tenure development, including plots for self and custom build, and strengthening the wording around small site allocation for SME housebuilders.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals relating to supporting a diverse mix of homes and supporting small and medium sites. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the process of driver’s licence renewal.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online services are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days.
In the interests of road safety, the DVLA must be satisfied that the required medical standards are met before a licence is issued. Some medical cases take longer because the DVLA often needs information from third parties, including doctors or other healthcare professionals, before it can make a licensing decision.
The DVLA has seen sustained growth in the volume and complexity of medical licence applications, increasing waiting times for some customers. To improve its services, the DVLA has introduced a new casework system and launched a new medical services portal so the majority of customers can now apply online through the DVLA’s driver and vehicle account.
These enhancements alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with these applications and answer telephone calls, will deliver real improvements in services and turnaround times for customers.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve rural transport links in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government knows the importance of reliable bus services in enabling people to stay connected and access education, work and vital services, particularly in rural areas where buses may be the only form of public transport. We are committed to delivering better bus services and the Bus Services Act 2025 puts passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of local bus services by putting the power back in the hands of local leaders right across England.
The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in the Spending Review, confirming over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year, ending the short-term approach to bus funding and giving councils the certainty they need to plan ahead to improve services for local communities.
The formula used to calculate LABG allocations for 2026/27 onwards includes consideration of the rurality of local areas for the first time, acknowledging the challenges of running services in rural areas, in addition to population size, levels of deprivation, and the extent of existing bus services. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, this could include expanding current bus provision.
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 progress his department has made in implementing the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommendation to reduce barriers to research into promising treatments for cluster headaches.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care is working with officials in the Home Office to support the changes agreed to in the letter from the Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health from July 2025. The group has met with stakeholders from the clinical trials community who gave advice and assurance on the proposed changes to the legislation.
The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the United Kingdom a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials, reducing barriers and unnecessary bureaucracy to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of the medicines and therapies of the future, including treatments for cluster headaches. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research and to yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the UK.
The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with cluster headaches, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
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 geographic inequalities in access to a range of V and T Levels.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are 21 T Levels available across England, delivered by over 320 providers. Further subjects are being introduced from 2028, and the first rollout of V Levels will be in 2027. We have published a transition document for providers to move to the new system- supporting access to the full suite of reformed qualifications across the country. This document can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/post-16-level-3-and-below-pathways/outcome/transition-plan-to-the-reformed-16-to-19-qualifications-landscape.
We recognise the challenges of T Level delivery in some areas, particularly around accessing industry placements in rural locations. We provide a contracted offer to support employers to engage with and offer placements and a ‘Connect’ service to help providers and employers to connect locally. We are also making further changes to support students in rural locations where travelling to placements can be more difficult, including greater provision for remote placements.
In addition, the 1,200-member-strong T Level Ambassador Network published regional plans in February 2026, using evidence to better target engagement activity across the North, Midlands and South.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 raise public (a) awareness and (b) understanding of lawful and responsible trail riding.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that all users of the countryside understand how to access and enjoy it lawfully and responsibly. Public access, including for horse riders, is supported by the Countryside Code, which promotes responsible enjoyment of the outdoors, respect for others and protection of the natural environment. This includes keeping to permitted routes, leaving gates as found, and minimising damage to paths and surrounding land.
At a local level, highway authorities also play an important role in raising awareness of lawful and responsible use. They are responsible for managing and maintaining public rights of way, including keeping them free from obstruction, and for producing Rights of Way Improvement Plans (ROWIPs), which assess needs and set out planned improvements. The Government encourages riders to engage with their local authority and review their area’s ROWIP to understand planned improvements and raise concerns about bridleway connectivity and condition.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 119646 on Air Pollution: Yeovil, what assessment she has made of whether updating health advice, in the absence of changes to the Daily Air Quality Index thresholds, is sufficient to ensure that air quality information accurately communicates risks to public health.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Air Quality Information System Review found that clearer, more targeted health and behavioural advice, particularly for people most at risk, could support actions to reduce exposure and manage health impacts. Alongside the updated health advice, the Government is progressing delivery of the Review’s wider recommendations, including work to improve digital communications and alert systems, and considering how the Daily Air Quality Index can be updated.
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 role community pharmacy could play in providing a Meningitis B vaccine catch-up service to students and young people from Yeovil constituency at risk.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is looking to expand the number of vaccines offered in community pharmacies across the country through local, targeted vaccination programmes. This has already started, with NHS England commissioning some community pharmacies in the Midlands, North West, London, and East of England to help deliver the year-round respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programmes to eligible pregnant women, to protect newborns, and adults aged 75 to 79 years old as well as the year-round pertussis vaccination programme to eligible pregnant women.
NHS England also nationally commissioned community pharmacies to administer flu vaccines for two- and three-year-olds for the first time in autumn 2025. An evaluation will assess whether this use of community pharmacies improves vaccine uptake and helps tackle regional health inequalities, in line with the NHS Vaccination Strategy.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the Government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has been consulted on the immediate vaccine response to the outbreak and clinical effectiveness of potential future outbreak response vaccination strategies.
On the 17 March, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced to the House of Commons that he would ask the JCVI to review eligibility for meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination. The JCVI will conduct a full assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a routine adolescent MenB vaccination programme and provide a complete and formal response to my Rt Hon. Friend as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce girls’ school absence rates in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The 'Working together to improve school attendance' statutory guidance supports the attendance of all children and requires schools and wider services to take a ‘support first’ approach to understand the nature of the individual barriers facing a child’s attendance and put in place appropriate support.
Schools are supported with real-time data and practical toolkits to diagnose drivers of absence, including bespoke attendance targets. Our attendance mentoring programme provides one-to-one support for persistently absent children, both in Somerset and more widely. The national regional improvement for standards and excellence attendance and behaviour hubs support over 3,500 schools with practical advice for improving attendance practice.
Attendance is also supported by wider investment, including rolling out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools and expanding access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce rates of child poverty in working families in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest statistics for 2024/25 show that over seven in ten children in poverty are in working families. ‘Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty’, published in December 2025, sets out Government’s commitment to tackling child poverty, including in working households.
Measures include the removal of the two child limit in Universal Credit, which will lift 450,000 children out of poverty. Alongside other measures set out in the Strategy, including extending Free School Meals to all children in households in receipt of Universal Credit, will reduce child poverty by 550,000 in the final year of this Parliament, the largest reduction over a Parliament since comparable records began.
This comes alongside raising the National Living Wage to £12.71 an hour to boost the pay of 2.4 million workers, tripling our investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million and investing £39 billion in social and affordable housing.
Providing the right employment support can help parents progress in work. That is why the UK Government is driving forward labour market interventions that will deliver a step-change in support and help parents to enter and progress in work.
Since September 2025, eligible working parents of children from 9 months old living in England have been able to access 30 hours of Government-funded childcare. Working parents on Universal Credit can receive 85% of childcare costs and 100% of any upfront costs and, we announced that childcare support through Universal Credit would be extended to help with the childcare costs for all children, rather than being capped at two.