Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department considered the potential merits of including a screening for bluetongue virus at abattoirs within the National Disease Surveillance scheme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is considering bluetongue monitoring enhancements for next season. Currently, official Veterinarians monitor for notifiable diseases including bluetongue at antemortem inspections across GB abattoirs. If notifiable disease is suspected APHA are contacted and reporting and appropriate testing procedures are followed. This data feeds into APHA disease scanning and the wider surveillance scheme.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding his Department is making available for small businesses in the a) hospitality and b) tourism sector in Cornwall.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting hospitality and tourism businesses across the UK, including in Cornwall. Many businesses in the sector benefit from the Government’s new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties. Small Business Rate Relief also means that around a third of properties already pay no business rates, with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.
We have more than doubled the Hospitality Support Fund, providing £10 million to support projects that improve productivity, develop skills and encourage business diversification. We have also ended upward-only rent review clauses and introduced a Community Right to Buy to help communities safeguard valued local assets
More widely, the Government is supporting high streets through its forthcoming cross-government High Streets Strategy and has an ambition to grow inbound tourism to 50 million annual visitors by 2030, supported by the development of a Visitor Economy Growth Strategy.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to driving licence renewals on medical grounds, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that drivers who must renew annually are notified of timescales ahead of deadlines to avoid interruptions to their entitlement to drive.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
So far in 2026/27, the average number of working days to make a licensing decision in medical cases is 62.3 working days.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sends reminders for vocational licences and ten-year photocard licence renewals 56 days before the licence is due to expire. For those renewing their licence at the age of 70 and those renewing a short-period medical licence, reminders are sent 90 days before the licence is due to expire.
The DVLA is currently experiencing an increase in both the volume and complexity of driving licence applications from people with one or more medical conditions. Unfortunately, this has led to longer waiting times for some customers. Applications that require medical investigation can often take longer to process, as they depend on the nature of the condition(s) involved and whether further information is required from third parties, such as doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a licensing decision can be made.
To keep up with growing customer demand and to offer a better service, the DVLA is updating its driver’s medical function and has launched a new casework system which will deliver significant improvements to drivers with medical conditions. The DVLA has also launched a new digital medical services portal which supports applications relating to around 1,600 medical conditions. Further enhancements for customers applying for a provisional licence and those renewing at the age of 70 or over were made recently.
The DVLA will write to the driver or applicant to advise them of any action taken on their case, for example where medical information is required from the driver or their healthcare professional. As part of a project, the DVLA has recently begun trialling text messaging to drivers who have consented to receiving updates by that method.
These enhancements, alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with applications will deliver real improvements in services and turnaround times for customers.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to driving licence renewals on medical grounds, what the current average waiting time is from submission of an application to the return of a licence.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
So far in 2026/27, the average number of working days to make a licensing decision in medical cases is 62.3 working days.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sends reminders for vocational licences and ten-year photocard licence renewals 56 days before the licence is due to expire. For those renewing their licence at the age of 70 and those renewing a short-period medical licence, reminders are sent 90 days before the licence is due to expire.
The DVLA is currently experiencing an increase in both the volume and complexity of driving licence applications from people with one or more medical conditions. Unfortunately, this has led to longer waiting times for some customers. Applications that require medical investigation can often take longer to process, as they depend on the nature of the condition(s) involved and whether further information is required from third parties, such as doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a licensing decision can be made.
To keep up with growing customer demand and to offer a better service, the DVLA is updating its driver’s medical function and has launched a new casework system which will deliver significant improvements to drivers with medical conditions. The DVLA has also launched a new digital medical services portal which supports applications relating to around 1,600 medical conditions. Further enhancements for customers applying for a provisional licence and those renewing at the age of 70 or over were made recently.
The DVLA will write to the driver or applicant to advise them of any action taken on their case, for example where medical information is required from the driver or their healthcare professional. As part of a project, the DVLA has recently begun trialling text messaging to drivers who have consented to receiving updates by that method.
These enhancements, alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with applications will deliver real improvements in services and turnaround times for customers.