Alex Ballinger

This government has not set out plans to phase out applied general qualifications.

In July, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced the review of qualifications reform. The rapid review is focused on Level 3 qualifications currently scheduled to have funding removed on 31 July 2025.

The department has an extensive programme of engagement underway, to ensure that the views of colleges, schools and teachers are fed into the review of qualifications reform. The department has already held a Ministerial chaired round table with key leaders in the college sector and is undertaking a series of focus groups and interviews with colleges, schools and other organisations to ensure that the views of stakeholders are fully considered. These events include key leaders from across the further education sector, as well as subject teachers and leaders of curriculum in institutions. In addition, departmental officials are using the latest student data and information available to inform the review.

There are two native species of grouse in England, red and black grouse. Black grouse are of conservation concern because of a long-term decline in their numbers due to a combination of factors including predation, climate change and changes in agricultural practices.

As with all wild birds, red and black grouse are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. The Game Act, 1831 applies a close season to both species to ensure hunting is sustainable. However, there is a long-standing voluntary moratorium on the hunting of black grouse due to their long-term decline.

Typical habitat for both species is peatland, heathland and moorland. We are committed to protecting these nature-rich habitats through promoting sustainable land management and restoration practices. These habitats are included in the Government commitment to deliver our legally binding biodiversity target to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042. The Government’s Nature for Climate Fund is also enabling peatland restoration and native woodland planting which will provide benefits for both species of grouse.

The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.

The Department held a consultation in 2020 and is working through the policy options to tackle pavement parking and the appropriate means of delivering them. As soon as the Government is satisfied that an optimal solution to this complex issue has been identified, we will announce the next steps and publish our formal response.

The Government recognises the importance of accessible streets and public transport to enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity, including ensuring they can access and sustain employment opportunities. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all. The Government welcomed the findings of the Transport Select Committee’s report on improving accessibility across the transport network, and we are committed to driving change.

Local authorities are responsible for the design, management and maintenance of their streets. It is for them to ensure they carry out these functions in a way which takes account of the needs of everyone, and complies with the Public Sector Equality Duty. The Department has published good practice guidance on this in ‘Inclusive Mobility: A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure, available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mobility-making-transport-accessible-for-passengers-and-pedestrians.

In December last year, the government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill which includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local bus services. We have also confirmed over £1 billion for 25/26 to support and improve bus services and keep fares affordable, including £712 million for local authorities. Local authorities can use this funding in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including improving the accessibility of bus infrastructure.

The government also has ambitious plans to reform the rail sector, unifying track and train under one organisation. The cornerstone of the Government’s plan for rail reform is to establish Great British Railways (GBR), a publicly owned arm’s length body charged with running Britain’s railways in the public interest. Accessibility is one of the Government’s six priorities for the railway and will be central to GBR. To support this, the Railways Bill includes legal requirements relating to accessibility that will ensure that the interests of passengers, including those with accessibility needs, will be a fundamental part of decision-making on the railways. We will shortly publish an Accessibility Roadmap for rail that sets out the actions we are taking to deliver a more accessible railway.

We are also committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will aim to set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys and what to do when standards aren’t met, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers.

All of these measures and many more projects and policies within the Department are aimed at making the journeys of disabled people more accessible and allowing them to travel as they need.

The Government's Industrial Strategy sets out our plans to upskill the nation with an extra £1.2 billion each year by 2028-29 and to deliver more opportunities for people at all stages of life to learn and earn in our high-growth sectors. The newly created agency Skills England will work with partners to assess skills needs at national, regional and local levels, and the Department for Education has committed to a new skills and growth offer to support meeting these needs.

We are evolving apprenticeships into a new Growth and Skills Offer to provide greater flexibility for employers and learners, in line with the Industrial Strategy. The offer will boost skills in the sector through initiatives like the Electrification Skills Network, which supports the development of a nationally consistent approach to electrification skills in parallel to technology; and the Electric Revolution Skills Hub, which connects the Power Electronics, Machines and Drives community through a digital platform that gives access to training, development and jobs across the nation.

The Government treats road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy with plans to publish it this year. We will set out more details in due course.

My department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.

All drivers must be insured to drive or ride the vehicle they are using and for the purpose it is used for. The Government takes uninsured driving seriously.

My department is currently considering a range of policies relating to the motoring offences and their penalties.

The Department has not made a comparative assessment of penalty levels for uninsured driving in the UK and other European countries.

The Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.

All drivers must be insured to drive or ride the vehicle they are using and for the purpose it is used for. The Government takes uninsured driving seriously. Police forces work closely with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) to tackle this. This is achieved through Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), a scheme where MIB and DVLA collaborate to identify uninsured drivers and police enforcement on the road.

There is also a national policing initiative known as Operation Tutelage to reduce the level of uninsured driving on our roads. The police send advisory letters to the registered keepers of vehicles seen on the road in circumstances where the current insurance status of the vehicle is unclear. The letter encourages the registered keeper to identify if there is a problem with the insurance for the vehicle, and to put things right.

This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority. There are already strict laws in place for e-cyclists and e-scooter users, and police have the power to prosecute if these laws are broken.

The Department is working with the Home Office on new offences intended to tackle those rare instances where a user’s behaviour is dangerous or careless, and results in the death or serious injury of another road user.

This is in addition to the new powers for the police to seize any vehicle, including e-cycles and e-scooters, being used in an anti-social manner and without first being required to give a warning.

The Government takes uninsured driving seriously. This is achieved through Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), a scheme where the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency collaborate to identify uninsured drivers and police enforcement on the road.

All drivers must be insured to drive the vehicle they are using and for the purpose it is used for. As with all drivers, they are subject to roadside enforcement by the police.

Motor insurers are responsible for setting the terms and conditions of the policies that they offer, and it is for them to decide the level of risk that they take in issuing any policy to a given applicant. They use a range of criteria to assess the potential risk a driver poses, including the age of the applicant, the type of vehicle being insured, the postal area where the applicant lives and the driving experience and record of the applicant. The setting of premiums is a commercial decision for individual insurers based on their underwriting experience and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.

The Equality Act 2010 provides general protection against age discrimination for people of all ages. However, the Act also includes an exemption for those conducting an assessment of risk for the purposes of providing a financial service to another person. This means that motor insurance companies are still able to take age into account when considering the premium to be paid or indeed whether to insure people of any particular age group.

The Government takes uninsured driving seriously. This is achieved through Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), a scheme where the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency collaborate to identify uninsured drivers and police enforcement on the road.

All drivers must be insured to drive the vehicle they are using and for the purpose it is used for. As with all drivers, they are subject to roadside enforcement by the police.

Motor insurers are responsible for setting the terms and conditions of the policies that they offer, and it is for them to decide the level of risk that they take in issuing any policy to a given applicant. They use a range of criteria to assess the potential risk a driver poses, including the age of the applicant, the type of vehicle being insured, the postal area where the applicant lives and the driving experience and record of the applicant. The setting of premiums is a commercial decision for individual insurers based on their underwriting experience and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.

The Equality Act 2010 provides general protection against age discrimination for people of all ages. However, the Act also includes an exemption for those conducting an assessment of risk for the purposes of providing a financial service to another person. This means that motor insurance companies are still able to take age into account when considering the premium to be paid or indeed whether to insure people of any particular age group.