Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the 90-in-180-day limit for professional drivers has been raised at meetings of the Specialised Committee on Road Transport under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement since October 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No meetings of the Specialised Committee on Road Transport (SCRT) under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) have been held since October 2025. Relevant discussions continue more widely.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings of the Specialised Committee on Road Transport under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement have been held since October 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No meetings of the Specialised Committee on Road Transport (SCRT) under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) have been held since October 2025. Relevant discussions continue more widely.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many coaches have travelled outbound through (a) the Port of Dover and (b) Eurotunnel in each month since October 2025; and what the average EES processing time for coaches was at each in each month.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Entry Exit System (EES) is an EU scheme, with checks carried out by the French border police (PaF) at Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover.
The department does not hold figures for the number of coaches that have travelled via the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel. These figures are commercially sensitive and would need to be requested from the port operators directly.
EES should only take a few minutes per person to complete and wait times may be longer during peak periods. This is why the UK government has supported the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel to invest in new bespoke processing areas to improve processing times and help to keep vehicles flowing at Kent's ports.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to her Department's Answer of 3 November 2026 to Question 38327 on Freight: Schengen Agreement, which of the monitoring and evaluation options set out in the report entitled Great Britain's commercial road transport and the European Union's Entry/Exit System her Department has commissioned for the further phase of research, (b) what the cost is of that phase and (c) when she expects its findings to be published.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 30 July 2026, the department published two reports relating to research on Great Britain's (GB) commercial goods and passenger transport operators’ exposure, awareness and preparedness for the European Union’s (EU) Entry/Exit System (EES). The first sets out the methodological options for gathering evidence from GB road transport operators. The second established a robust baseline before EES implementation, intended to provide an evidence-based picture of the extent to and the ways in which GB operators are exposed to EES and the 90-in-180-day Schengen immigration limit.
The department has since commissioned a further phase of research intended to assess the realised impacts of EES on GB road transport operators. This phase builds on the previously published reports by collecting quantitative and qualitative evidence from operators now that EES is in operation. This research provides monitoring information only. As EES is an EU policy, it is not for the UK government to evaluate the policy.
The department’s budget for the latest phase of research is £180,000. The findings are expected to be published in 2027.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of exclusion from the EU's Made in Europe programme on the UK's (a) steel and (b) energy sector.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My department is looking closely at the EU’s Made in Europe measures across a range of legislative proposals and is engaging with industry leaders and the EU institutions. We will continue to assess the potential economic impacts for the UK as the EU’s Made in Europe programme develops, including in sectors such as steel and energy.
The UK-EU Leaders’ summit, on 20th November, will provide an opportunity to raise wider issues of mutual interest, including Made in Europe.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to raise the EU's Made in Europe initiative as an agenda item at the forthcoming UK-EU Summit.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will hold the next UK-EU summit on 20th November in Brussels, where we aim to strike important deals that will boost our economy, cut red tape, help our businesses grow and provide opportunities to young people. The Summit will also be an opportunity to raise wider issues of mutual interest, including Made in Europe. We do not comment on the details of ongoing negotiations or speculations about specific proposals.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made in providing (a) financial and (b) non-financial redress to women affected by sodium valproate in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to my response to the Adjournment Debate on 29 October, where these issues were discussed at length.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to raise barriers facing touring artists as an agenda item at the forthcoming UK-EU Summit.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At the inaugural UK-EU Summit in May 2025, the UK and the EU jointly recognised the value of travel and of cultural and artistic exchanges, including the activities of touring artists. We have continued to build on that commitment through ongoing dialogue with Member States and the European Commission. The Summit this year will be an opportunity to continue this dialogue.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of existing routes of redress for patients who believe inaccurate information in their NHS medical records has contributed to patient harm.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients may seek redress through a number of established mechanisms, including raising concerns or complaints with the provider concerned, requesting correction of records where appropriate, pursuing complaints through the relevant complaints process, referring matters to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, and, where harm has resulted, pursuing legal action. NHS Resolution operates indemnity schemes that provide cover for clinical negligence liabilities arising from the acts or omissions of member organisations within the scope of those schemes.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what evaluation has been made of the outcomes of the £3.5 million provided to each of the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel to prepare for the Entry/Exit System.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The support provided to the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar has been used to prepare for the introduction of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), including for the development of infrastructure to safely accommodate travellers carrying out checks. All three portals have been ready for the level of EES checks being carried out by French border authorities. EES specific infrastructure will be fully utilised once the technology to capture biometric data is available to the French border authorities at each portal.