Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will commission an independent feasibility study into alternative ownership models of water companies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has established a Public Control Taskforce to examine how greater public control across essential services can help make them more affordable, more accountable and better focused on serving the public interest. It will report later this year.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of unpaid caring responsibilities on the level of workforce participation and economic inactivity.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Office for National Statistics publish data on the levels of workforce participation, economic inactivity and reasons for economic inactivity in the UK. This can be found here: A01: Summary of labour market statistics - Office for National Statistics.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including self-defence on the curriculum in secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The updated relationships sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance, which all schools will be following from this term, is clear that secondary pupils should learn how to develop key social and emotional skills that will increase pupils’ safety from involvement in conflict and violence. These include skills to support self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and responsible decision making, relationship skills, and skills to recognise and manage peer pressure, that collectively keep young people safe.
Schools may choose to provide self-defence or martial arts within their wider curriculum, but neither is prescribed by the national curriculum.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the effectiveness of visa schemes accessible to care workers.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
My officials continue to engage with the sector and provide support to representatives and providers themselves, alongside the Department for Health and Social Care.
We are also engaging with sector and worker representatives to further understand how the sponsorship system operates for those who use it.
The Government has, however, been clear that we are concerned about the significant abuse facing migrant care workers at the hands of unscrupulous employers. That is why the Immigration White Paper closed overseas recruitment last July.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
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 ensure patients can access the results of hospital-requested blood tests at their registered GP surgery.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In some areas, general practices (GPs) may be able to access local hospital test results through shared care records. Where a result is added to the patient's GP health record, it can subsequently be viewed by patients through the NHS App.
There are some other circumstances when patients may currently be able to access their hospital-requested test results through the NHS App. In areas where Patients Know Best is available through the NHS App, patients can access a ‘Hospital-ordered test results’ option, and some hospitals also provide access to test results through their own digital services.
The planned Single Patient Record (SPR) is intended to bring together key elements of a patient’s health information, including test results where available and appropriate, supporting safer, more joined-up care across settings. The ambition is that patients will begin to be able to view information from the SPR securely through the NHS App from 2028.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of removing the requirement to renew disabled bus passes for those with lifelong conditions.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme provides free off-peak bus travel in England to people with eligible disabilities and those of State Pension age.
For security reasons, legislation sets out that the expiry date of concessionary passes must be no more than five years from the date of issue. Local authorities are responsible for administering disabled persons’ bus passes, including application and renewal arrangements. While there are currently no plans to remove renewal requirements nationally, the Department recognises that some disabilities are permanent while others may change over time. The Department is aware of a number of local authorities which operate automatic or light touch renewal processes for passholders whose disabilities have been assessed to be permanent.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consideration her Department has given to extending free bus passes for young people on a permanent basis.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Summer Bus Fare Offer was designed as a targeted, time-limited measure to support families with the cost of travel during the summer holidays and concluded at the end of August as planned. The Government will consider any further schemes through its wider approach to supporting affordable bus travel.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department intends to develop Safety Schemes in Procurement and the Common Assessment Standard to reduce duplication in safety accreditation requirements for contractors.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of our wider work on building professions, trades and occupations, we will consider the role that schemes such as Safety Schemes in Procurement and the Common Assessment Standard can play in supporting competence and reducing unnecessary duplication. We continue to develop options to deliver the Grenfell Inquiry recommendation on principal contractor licensing to ensure principal contractors working on higher-risk buildings are appropriately qualified and competent. Future reforms will be informed by the duty holder review and our call for evidence, including consideration of how existing assurance arrangements support competence. We expect to publish the findings from the review in late 2026.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the department’s previous response to Question 113361 tabled on 12 February 2026, what progress has been made on assessing the risks posed by headlight glare, and what timeline her Department has established for further action on this matter.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has completed a programme of engagement with relevant stakeholders to help inform the second phase of the vehicle lighting glare research. This phase will build on the findings of the initial research by examining vehicle design factors and potential countermeasures, with the aim of developing specific recommendations for amendments to international vehicle construction regulations to reduce glare. A contract for this phase of research is expected to be awarded shortly.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many waivers for Carer's Allowance overpayments were applied for and accepted in 2025/26.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
In very exceptional circumstances, there is discretion for DWP to waive recovery of an overpayment, as a derogation granted by the Treasury from the absolute requirement to recover all overpayments of public money. This is considered only where there is reasonable evidence available that the recovery of the overpayment is detrimental to the health and/or welfare of the debtor or their family; there needs to be very specific and compelling grounds for a waiver to be agreed.
Carer's Allowance overpayment waivers 25/26:
Received waiver requests:18
Refused waivers: 15
Approved waivers: 3
Further information on Waivers can be found in chapter 8 of the Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide.