Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the assessment of the Music Hub programme by the National Centre for Social Research will report on the progression of students.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is investing £25 million capital for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year, across all Music Hub partnerships in England. The proportion of the funding distributed to date by region is set out below, with the remaining funding to be distributed by the end of the 2025/26 academic year.
England | Proportion distributed |
East Midlands | 43% |
East of England | 30% |
London | 36% |
East and South East | 30% |
North East | 30% |
North West | 37% |
South East | 52% |
South West | 47% |
West Midlands | 29% |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 34% |
England | 38% |
The independent evaluation is focussed on implementation, delivery and impact of the partnerships and capital investment, and reported benefits for pupils and schools. Interim findings are due by autumn 2025.
Data on progression at pupil level is outside of the scope of the evaluation, however Arts Council England publishes management information on standards achieved through whole class ensemble teaching, and individual and group lessons, on their Music Hubs data dashboard.
It is for schools to decide whether to seek the support of Music Hub partnerships. Guidance on schools’ annual music development plans strongly encourages them to do so.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring state schools to engage with music hubs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is investing £25 million capital for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year, across all Music Hub partnerships in England. The proportion of the funding distributed to date by region is set out below, with the remaining funding to be distributed by the end of the 2025/26 academic year.
England | Proportion distributed |
East Midlands | 43% |
East of England | 30% |
London | 36% |
East and South East | 30% |
North East | 30% |
North West | 37% |
South East | 52% |
South West | 47% |
West Midlands | 29% |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 34% |
England | 38% |
The independent evaluation is focussed on implementation, delivery and impact of the partnerships and capital investment, and reported benefits for pupils and schools. Interim findings are due by autumn 2025.
Data on progression at pupil level is outside of the scope of the evaluation, however Arts Council England publishes management information on standards achieved through whole class ensemble teaching, and individual and group lessons, on their Music Hubs data dashboard.
It is for schools to decide whether to seek the support of Music Hub partnerships. Guidance on schools’ annual music development plans strongly encourages them to do so.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the capital grant for musical instruments has been distributed in (a) total and (b) each region of England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is investing £25 million capital for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year, across all Music Hub partnerships in England. The proportion of the funding distributed to date by region is set out below, with the remaining funding to be distributed by the end of the 2025/26 academic year.
England | Proportion distributed |
East Midlands | 43% |
East of England | 30% |
London | 36% |
East and South East | 30% |
North East | 30% |
North West | 37% |
South East | 52% |
South West | 47% |
West Midlands | 29% |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 34% |
England | 38% |
The independent evaluation is focussed on implementation, delivery and impact of the partnerships and capital investment, and reported benefits for pupils and schools. Interim findings are due by autumn 2025.
Data on progression at pupil level is outside of the scope of the evaluation, however Arts Council England publishes management information on standards achieved through whole class ensemble teaching, and individual and group lessons, on their Music Hubs data dashboard.
It is for schools to decide whether to seek the support of Music Hub partnerships. Guidance on schools’ annual music development plans strongly encourages them to do so.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support victims of fraud from 79th Group.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our ongoing Stop! Think Fraud campaign continues to raise awareness and provide practical guidance to help both the public and businesses protect themselves against fraudulent activity.
Furthermore, the government has legislated to implement mandatory reimbursement for victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams. This measure came into effect in October 2024 and is already contributing to improved outcomes for victims, while also strengthening incentives for firms to prevent these scams from occurring in the first place.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of cases of fraud involving the Seventy Ninth Group.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 28 February 2025, the City of London Police announced that it was investigating allegations of fraud in relation to the 79th Group. It is understood that the 79th Group offered investment opportunities involving loan notes that were marketed as being secured against properties. The investigation remains in progress.
A number of entities in the 79th Group have been placed into administration. On 14 July 2025 the joint administrators published an update on the administration, which can be viewed on the Companies House website.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of delays between people being confirmed medically fit and getting their driving licenses back by the DVLA.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services are the quickest way to apply for a driving licence and drivers with diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, visual impairments, sleep conditions or heart conditions can renew their driving licence online. The DVLA has also introduced a simplified licence renewal process for drivers with multiple sclerosis, some mental health conditions and glaucoma. This has significantly reduced the need for the DVLA to seek further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver.
The DVLA is continuing to make improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions and is introducing a new strategic system to process cases. This will provide better services for customers and allow straightforward applications to be processed more quickly.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the average time taken to make a licensing decision in cases where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued was 44 working days, a reduction from 56 working days in the previous financial year.
Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can sometimes take longer depending on the medical condition or conditions being investigated. The DVLA is also often reliant on receiving information from third parties, for example doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a decision can be made on whether to issue a licence.
Most applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing the driver can meet specific criteria.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to speed up the process of DVLA reviewing license renewal following medical improvement.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services are the quickest way to apply for a driving licence and drivers with diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, visual impairments, sleep conditions or heart conditions can renew their driving licence online. The DVLA has also introduced a simplified licence renewal process for drivers with multiple sclerosis, some mental health conditions and glaucoma. This has significantly reduced the need for the DVLA to seek further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver.
The DVLA is continuing to make improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions and is introducing a new strategic system to process cases. This will provide better services for customers and allow straightforward applications to be processed more quickly.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the average time taken to make a licensing decision in cases where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued was 44 working days, a reduction from 56 working days in the previous financial year.
Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can sometimes take longer depending on the medical condition or conditions being investigated. The DVLA is also often reliant on receiving information from third parties, for example doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a decision can be made on whether to issue a licence.
Most applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing the driver can meet specific criteria.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on creating a treatment pathway for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including treatment pathways and support for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. The Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a quality standard in England for FASD to help providers and commissioners improve both diagnosis and support for people affected by FASD. This includes guidance on individualised management plans, which help to coordinate care across a range of healthcare professionals, as well as education and social services, to improve outcomes. The quality standard also covers support during pregnancy to improve awareness and prevent the disorder. The quality standard was published in March 2022, and is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of in-community support for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including treatment pathways and support for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. The Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a quality standard in England for FASD to help providers and commissioners improve both diagnosis and support for people affected by FASD. This includes guidance on individualised management plans, which help to coordinate care across a range of healthcare professionals, as well as education and social services, to improve outcomes. The quality standard also covers support during pregnancy to improve awareness and prevent the disorder. The quality standard was published in March 2022, and is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to modify regulations to facilitate the installation of (a) energy efficiency measures and (b) double glazing in listed buildings.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will consider issues relating to installing energy efficiency measures and double glazing in listed building as part of ongoing reforms to the planning system.