Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effectiveness of using E20 fuel.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK Government made E10 the standard (or ‘premium’) grade petrol in Great Britain in September 2021. Previously the grade supplied at UK forecourts contained a lower bioethanol content known as E5.
In making the decision to mandate E10 the Department carried out extensive consultation and undertook a comprehensive public information campaign. The UK did not move to E10 without assurance that vehicles on UK roads were ready to safely use higher blends of bioethanol, and that such a transition would align with industry agreed fuel standards for petrol.
The industry agreed standard for petrol, EN228, currently only permits fuel suppliers to supply petrol containing up to 10% ethanol (E10). The Department continually reviews all policies relevant to biofuels, including on E10. Any changes to fuel regulation would require alignment with industry led fuel standards for petrol and a consultation.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many technical capability notices her Department has issued under s.253 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 in each year, not including the notice rejected by Apple.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
For reasons of national security, it has been a long-standing position that the Government does not confirm or deny compliance of operators given a notice under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. We also do not publish the number of technical capability notices issued or release identities of those subject to a technical capability notice. To do so may identify operational capabilities or harm the commercial interests of companies.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many technical capability notices issued under s.253 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 have been complied with in each year.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
For reasons of national security, it has been a long-standing position that the Government does not confirm or deny compliance of operators given a notice under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. We also do not publish the number of technical capability notices issued or release identities of those subject to a technical capability notice. To do so may identify operational capabilities or harm the commercial interests of companies.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on responding to the recommendations of the First Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2024-25 on Support for children and young people with special educational needs, HC 353, published on 15 January 2025.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
An update is publicly available through the Treasury Minutes, published in April 2025, and accessible here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67ed087598b3bac1ec299b5a/Treasury_Minutes_v02_PRINT.pdf.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure reliable access to NHS dental treatment in (a) East Riding of Yorkshire and (b) rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in rural areas. The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For East Riding of Yorkshire, this is the Humber and North Yorkshire ICB.
The additional 700,000 appointments will be available across the country, with specific targets for each region. The Humber and North Yorkshire ICB is expected to deliver 27,196 additional urgent care appointments. These targets are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the level of funding available for NHS dental treatments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.
The NHS in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to ICBs on dental budgets, including ringfences. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct unused resources, if contractors are unable to deliver on NHS dental commitments.
NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has now been published and sets out the funding available to ICBs. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of setting minimum targets for integrated care boards on the proportion of people seen by NHS dental providers over a 24 month period.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry and receive an annual allocation of funding to secure services to meet the needs of their population.
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on reform of the NHS dental contract.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.
There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.
We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to her oral contribution of 22 April 2025, Official Report, column 911, what her Department's requisite level of accuracy is for AI transcriptions of court trials.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is imperative that court transcripts are of a very high standard, and redacted as may be required, to provide an accurate record of official proceedings and in order to safeguard the interests of the parties, witnesses and victims. The production of Crown Court transcripts is currently a manual process delivered by third-party suppliers. Under the contract, suppliers are required to produce transcripts to 99.5% accuracy. We are targeting a similar level of accuracy in AI transcripts. We are actively exploring opportunities to use technology to reduce the cost of transcripts in future, but a high degree of accuracy will be of paramount importance.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the (a) proxy factors and (b) weightings used in the National Funding Formula for high needs funding accurately reflect the demand for high needs educational provision.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. Total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion in 2025/26. Of that total, East Riding of Yorkshire Council is being allocated over £42 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £3.5 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 9.1% increase per head of their two to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.
The government has indicated that it will take the time needed to consider changes to the high needs NFF used by the department to allocate funding for children and young people with complex SEND. It is important that there is a fair education funding system that reflects differences in the level of underlying need across the country and directs funding accordingly, to support improved outcomes for these children and young people.
The department’s objective is to ensure local authorities, schools and colleges can deliver high-quality services for children and young people with SEND in a financially sustainable way, and we are considering the funding required to achieve that in future years as part of the current spending review that is due to conclude in June.