Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his department will assist post-radiotherapy head and neck cancer patients who currently have to pay for private dentistry due to a lack of NHS dentistry places, despite regular check-ups being an essential part of their post-radiotherapy care.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ensure that carers are not being pursued for overpayments where this was incurred due to incorrect operational guidance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to my Written Statement of 25 November HCWS1092 and (at Col 22WS) Carer's Allowance Overpayments Review - Hansard - UK Parliament where I set out that the department will be reassessing historical and existing Carer’s Allowance cases with an earnings-related overpayment in England and Wales. This will cover the period between 2015 and summer 2025 where the treatment of fluctuating earnings may have given rise to an incorrect overpayment. I also said we would set out more details on the reassessment exercise in the New Year.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is the planned timetable for the reassessment of carers allowance overpayments as a result of incorrect operational guidance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to my Written Statement of 25 November HCWS1092 and (at Col 22WS) Carer's Allowance Overpayments Review - Hansard - UK Parliament where I set out that the department will be reassessing historical and existing Carer’s Allowance cases with an earnings-related overpayment in England and Wales. This will cover the period between 2015 and summer 2025 where the treatment of fluctuating earnings may have given rise to an incorrect overpayment. I also said we would set out more details on the reassessment exercise in the New Year.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the government plans to further regulate use by local authorities of glyphosate herbicides.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is not planning on further regulating glyphosate use by local authorities.
There is a legal requirement to minimise the use of pesticides along roads and in areas used by the public. It is for each Local Authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control in its operations without harming people or the environment.
The UK Pesticides National Action Plan (NAP) sets out how we intend to increase the uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) across all sectors, including in amenity. Defra funded the recent publication of Parks for London’s Integrated Weed Management guide, which has been made open access. IPM lies at the heart of the government’s approach to minimise the environmental impact of pesticides.
A pesticide may only be placed on the market in Great Britain (GB) if the product has been authorised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), GB’s pesticide regulator. This only happens following a thorough scientific risk assessment that concludes all safety standards are met.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Question 88105, how many 16 to 19 year olds are enrolled on each of the 900 non-A level Level 3 qualifications referenced in the Department’s consultation document on Post-16 Level 3 and Below Pathways.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s vision for the 16-19 education system is to create a clear and coherent system with distinct pathways leading to further study, training or employment, including apprenticeships.
At level 3, this includes introducing V Levels, a new pathway alongside A levels and T Levels, as recommended in the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report. These reforms are currently under consultation.
Despite removing qualifications with sustained low or no enrolments ahead of this academic year, there remain 872 level 3 qualifications that are still available for 16–19-year-olds. Further analysis shows there were circa. 494,300 16-19 study programme enrolments in academic year 2022/23.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the outstanding level of carers allowance overpayments debt is in relation to carers breaching the earnings limit.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of June 2025, just under £166 million was outstanding from just under 93,500 CA debtors due to earnings over the limit which was classed as claimant error. Further information can be found on the Carer’s Allowance statistical release which was published this week: Analysis of Carer’s Allowance claimants receiving other benefits, undertaking paid work, receiving overpayments and civil penalties - GOV.UK
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to encourage developers to build roads that meet standards for adoption by the highways authority.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government expects developers to design and construct roads in line with the design standards set by local highway authorities. These standards ensure that roads are suitable for adoption, enabling them to be maintained at public expense. The Department for Transport works closely with local authorities and developers to promote the use of Manual for Streets, which provides guidance on the design of residential streets and supports authorities in setting appropriate standards. The Department has reviewed data which indicates there is a declining trend in the number of roads being adopted and is undertaking research to better understand the underlying causes and identify potential measures to address this issue.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to extend marketing restrictions for HFSS products to outdoor advertising.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity by creating a fairer, healthier food environment. We are already delivering the biggest public health reforms in a generation which includes restrictions on junk food advertising on television and online, a ban on high-caffeine energy drinks for children under 16 years old, and boosting the impact of the advertising and promotion restrictions by applying the updated Nutrient Profiling Model. We are also introducing mandatory healthy food sales reporting for large food businesses and will set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities, a world first.
Last year, the Government published the revised National Planning Policy Framework for local government, giving local authorities stronger, clearer powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate. This will stop the relentless targeting of children and young people by the fast-food industry, which is a particular problem in some of the most deprived areas.
We welcome the work metropolitan mayors are progressing to support action being taken at a local level to ban junk food marketing across the public transport networks and public spaces that are controlled locally.
We currently have no plans to extend the marketing restrictions on products that are high in fat, sugar, and salt to outdoor advertising, but we continue to review the evidence of the impacts on children of advertising for less healthy food and drink products and will consider where further action is needed.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on clearing the backlog of Carer’s Allowance overpayment debts in relation to earnings.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP secured additional funding for 2025/2026 for a 27% increase in resource to clear the stock of Carer’s Allowance (CA) Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP) alerts. VEP enables DWP to receive real time identification of changes in a claimant’s income through an interface with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay as You Earn (PAYE) information.
This focus has ensured DWP has now cleared this stock of CA VEP alerts, moving DWP to a position of actioning all alerts as close as possible to the date of generation by HMRC, and helping reduce the risk of large overpayments building up over many years.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department’s plans to process all Carer’s Allowance overpayments in relation to earnings.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP secured additional funding for 2025/2026 for a 27% increase in resource to clear the stock of Carer’s Allowance (CA) Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP) alerts. VEP enables DWP to receive real time identification of changes in a claimant’s income through an interface with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay as You Earn (PAYE) information.
This focus has ensured DWP has now cleared this stock of CA VEP alerts, moving DWP to a position of actioning all alerts as close as possible to the date of generation by HMRC, and helping reduce the risk of large overpayments building up over many years.