Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment her Department made of the risk that alerts could expose survivors of domestic abuse relying on a concealed phone to seek help prior to issuing the Emergency Alert of 14 August 2026; and what prior engagement took place with domestic abuse charities on that risk.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Protecting victims of domestic abuse is always our priority. Both national tests of the Emergency Alerting capability were accompanied by a proactive public communications campaign informing the public of how to opt out of alerts, if they wished to do so.
This included extensive engagement with charities and groups representing vulnerable communities, such as Refuge. Advice on how to opt-out of emergency alerts is available at all times of GOV.UK/alerts, and is included in the websites of a number of charities and organisations that support victims of domestic abuse.
In a ‘live’ activation scenario such as this, such pre-planned public communications are difficult to ensure. As far as possible, the Cabinet Office engages with the media ahead of the transmission of an Alert to provide notice to the public.
The Cabinet Office recommends that victims of domestic abuse with concealed phones consider opting-out of receiving alerts either by turning off Emergency Alerts in their phone settings or by switching their phone off when it is not in use.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the period of time between announcing the Emergency Alert of 14 August 2025 to the public and the alert itself being issued.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
In a ‘live’ activation scenario such as this, pre-planned public communications such as those carried out ahead of the national test in September 2025 are difficult to ensure. Please be assured that we are learning from each activation.
As far as possible, the Cabinet Office engages with the media ahead of the transmission of an Alert to provide notice to the public.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria her Department applies in distinguishing between the use of Emergency Alerts to (a) warn of danger that is imminent and (b) help prevent a serious incident from occurring.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Every Emergency Alert is carefully coordinated with responding public bodies and agencies. This tool is only used in emergency scenarios, and where the need is greatest. The Cabinet Office remains committed to reviewing every alert request on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data her Department holds on the national opt-out rate from Emergency Alerts; and what estimate she has made of the number of mobile phone users successfully reached by the alert of 14 August 2025.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
It is not possible to gather data on the national opt out rate for Emergency Alerts. This is because Emergency Alerts use cell broadcast technology, which is “one-way” and does not provide any feedback to the government or Mobile Network Operators about you, your location or whether an individual handset has received an Emergency Alert.
The activation was technically successful, with no widespread problems reported by Mobile Network Operators.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
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 prioritise access to specialist treatment for rare cancers; how patients with lymphoma are being prioritised; and what progress she has made on meeting commitments in those areas.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the respective answers provided on 18 September and 21 September in response to Questions 27027 and 27283.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of time taken to implement road safety measures following serious or fatal road traffic collisions; what steps her Department is taking to reduce barriers to the introduction of traffic calming measures where local communities and police forces have identified safety concerns; and whether she has made an assessment of the impact of planning, consultation and regulatory requirements on the time taken to introduce such measures.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has not made a specific assessment of the appropriateness of the time taken to implement road safety measures following individual serious or fatal road traffic collisions.
Responsibility for decisions on local roads, including the introduction of traffic-calming measures and other safety interventions, rests with the relevant local traffic authority. Local authorities are best placed to assess local circumstances, including collision history, traffic conditions, road layout, community concerns and the needs of vulnerable road users.
The Department provides design guidance in Local Transport Note 1/07: Traffic Calming, available at Local transport notes - GOV.UK
As set out in the Highways (Traffic Calming) Regulations 1999, authorities must consult the local chief of police and other organisations they consider are likely to be affected on proposed traffic calming measures, but there is no set process for this and it is for local authorities to determine how best to fulfil this requirement.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time is for Access to Work applications from self-employed people; how many self-employed applicants are currently awaiting a decision; and what steps he is taking to reduce delays in the assessment and approval of Access to Work support.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
DWP recognises that while customers greatly value the support provided by the Access to Work scheme, they also have concerns about the scheme’s timeliness, consistency and appreciation of the complex barriers faced by people with disabilities in a modern workplace. The Department is addressing these points in order to deliver an improved scheme that will better help disabled people start and stay in work.
Efforts undertaken by the Department to achieve this include the recruitment of 480 additional staff to help reduce the Access to Work backlog by September 2027. These members of staff will receive extensive training to support them to handle complex applications. In addition, the Department is continuing to engage with a range of stakeholders to develop a richer understanding of the challenges disabled people face. The feedback from this engagement will be used to shape improvements to the scheme that better reflect the current needs of customers. Any improvements to Access to Work will be announced in advance of their implementation.
The Department does not hold information on the average processing time for Access to Work applications from self-employed customers. Access to Work management information does not differentiate by employment status once applications have been allocated to a Case Manager and average processing times for self-employed customers are therefore not available.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the difference in financial support available to mature students undertaking (a) five-year undergraduate medicine and (b) four-year graduate-entry medicine courses, including in respect of (i) maintenance support, (ii) tuition fees, (iii) travel expenses and (iv) childcare costs.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on a wide range of matters to ensure the education system supports healthcare students, including support for mature students.
In the first four years of a five-year undergraduate medical course, students can access up-front fee loans and partially means-tested loans for living costs from Student Finance England (SFE).
Additional means-tested support is available for full-time students on medical courses with one or more dependent children. This includes the Childcare Grant to help with weekly childcare costs and the Parents’ Learning Allowance for course related costs. Full-time medical students undertaking a clinical placement in the UK may also apply for a means-tested travel grant to help with associated travel costs.
Graduates wishing to study medicine or dentistry may choose a graduate-entry course. In the first year of graduate-entry medical degree, students may be eligible for a partial tuition fee loan and a partially means-tested maintenance loan from SFE.
The government has announced that maximum loans for living costs will increase annually in line with forecast inflation. For the 2026/2027 academic year, loans increased by 2.7%.
From year 5 of an undergraduate course and from year 2 of a graduate-entry course, medical students may access the NHS Bursary. This is non-repayable and includes a contribution towards tuition fees and further grants and allowances including support for childcare and travel costs, where eligible. Students in receipt of an NHS Bursary may also apply for a reduced rate loan for living costs from SFE.
DHSC increased NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants and all allowances by 2.7% for the 2026/27 academic year.
Medicine and dentistry courses will attract Priority Additional Entitlement under the new Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), due to be introduced from January 2027. For the first time, students who choose medicine as a second degree under the LLE will be able to access full tuition fee and standard living costs support for the years of study not covered by the NHS bursary.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for how long will councillors elected in the local government elections confirmed for May 2027 serve in office.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State confirmed in her oral statement on 7 September 2026 that the plan is for local and regional elections scheduled for May 2027 to go ahead on existing boundaries. Councillors elected in May 2027 will serve for four years unless a structural changes Order is made and any change to terms of office will be set out in that Order. The Government is considering the next stages of the local government reorganisation programme and will set out next steps once that work has concluded.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which boundaries, regions and levels of local government will have elections in May 2027.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State confirmed in her oral statement on 7 September 2026 that the plan is for local and regional elections scheduled for May 2027 to go ahead on existing boundaries. Councillors elected in May 2027 will serve for four years unless a structural changes Order is made and any change to terms of office will be set out in that Order. The Government is considering the next stages of the local government reorganisation programme and will set out next steps once that work has concluded.