Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has assessed the potential impact on bus patronage of the withdrawal by Hertfordshire County Council of the Senior SaverCard; and what assessment she has made of the potential role of local or regional concessionary fare schemes in encouraging bus use among the age group of 60 to State Pension age.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact on bus patronage of Hertfordshire County Council’s withdrawal of the Senior SaverCard. Decisions on discretionary local concessionary fare schemes are matters for local authorities, which are best placed to assess local needs, priorities and impacts.
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme provides free off-peak bus travel in England to those of State Pension age and those with eligible disabilities. Local authorities may choose to offer discretionary concessions which are more generous than the statutory minimum, including concessions for those aged between 60 and State Pension age. Such schemes can enable authorities to tailor support to their local communities and transport networks, and may encourage bus use. Decisions on whether to introduce or maintain them, and assessments of their effect on bus use, are matters for the relevant authority.
The Government is providing over £3 billion between 2026/27 and 2028/29 to support local leaders and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services and keep fare low, including around £700 million per year through the Local Authority Bus Grant.
Hertfordshire County Council will receive £34.6 million from the Department for Transport under the Local Authority Bus Grant, from 2026/27 until 2028/29 in addition to £12.2 million already received in 2025/26.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to embed learning about global development issues into the National Curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The current national curriculum requires pupils to learn about international development in key stage 3 geography, with further detail available to pupils who study GCSE geography. Last year, Professor Becky Francis led an independent review of the national curriculum which made several recommendations. The government is considering these recommendations alongside its ambitions for technical education. Proposals for the new national curriculum will be subject to a public consultation in due course.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve data sharing between GP practices and Integrated Care Boards to support the early identification of risks to patient safety and access to care.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is taking forward digital services to help improve the sharing of patient data, which have the improvement of care and the identification and management of risks as key objectives. The Single Patient Record will bring together a patient’s health information in one, secure, easy-to-access place for use by those delivering care.
The NHS Federated Data Platform connects information across the National Health Service, and can help co-ordinate care, and provide tools to analyse connected data, to identify actions for improvement.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what barriers have been identified to effective data sharing between primary care providers and Integrated Care Boards; and what steps her Department is taking to address them.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is taking forward digital services to help improve the sharing of patient data, which have the improvement of care and the identification and management of risks as key objectives. The Single Patient Record will bring together a patient’s health information in one, secure, easy-to-access place for use by those delivering care.
The NHS Federated Data Platform connects information across the National Health Service, and can help co-ordinate care, and provide tools to analyse connected data, to identify actions for improvement.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has plans to introduce routine screening for Pelvic Radiation Disease symptoms following pelvic radiotherapy.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of routine screening for Pelvic Radiation Disease symptoms or of the potential implications of the disease on people who have received cancer treatment. The Hon. Member can find details of the Government’s strategy to support people with ongoing symptoms who have previously had treatment in Chapter 4 of the National Cancer Plan for England, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cancer-plan-for-england
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the department has made of the potential implications of Pelvic Radiation Disease on people who have received cancer treatment.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of routine screening for Pelvic Radiation Disease symptoms or of the potential implications of the disease on people who have received cancer treatment. The Hon. Member can find details of the Government’s strategy to support people with ongoing symptoms who have previously had treatment in Chapter 4 of the National Cancer Plan for England, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cancer-plan-for-england
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what treatments are available on the NHS for people suffering from Pelvic Radiation Disease.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of routine screening for Pelvic Radiation Disease symptoms or of the potential implications of the disease on people who have received cancer treatment. The Hon. Member can find details of the Government’s strategy to support people with ongoing symptoms who have previously had treatment in Chapter 4 of the National Cancer Plan for England, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cancer-plan-for-england
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had discussions with Ofgem on the performance of UK Power Networks in restoring supplies and communicating with customers during power outages.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State and I regularly speak to Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) on a range of issues.
Great Britian has a highly resilient energy system, and when incidents do occur, industry have well practiced plans to minimise impacts as quickly as possible.
All DNOs, including UK Power Networks, are required to report on restoration times during outages, including on their websites, where they offer power outage information.
All DNOs are regulated by the independent regulator, Ofgem, which sets annual targets for customer interruptions and customer minutes lost. Each year DNOs must report their performance against these measures to Ofgem. Ofgem then assesses if targets have been met and rewards or penalises DNOs appropriately.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to ensure that UK Power Networks provides timely and accessible information to impacted by unplanned power outages.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State and I regularly speak to Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) on a range of issues.
Great Britian has a highly resilient energy system, and when incidents do occur, industry have well practiced plans to minimise impacts as quickly as possible.
All DNOs, including UK Power Networks, are required to report on restoration times during outages, including on their websites, where they offer power outage information.
All DNOs are regulated by the independent regulator, Ofgem, which sets annual targets for customer interruptions and customer minutes lost. Each year DNOs must report their performance against these measures to Ofgem. Ofgem then assesses if targets have been met and rewards or penalises DNOs appropriately.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to review the compensation available to households and businesses impacted by electricity outages.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem sets the Quality of Service Guaranteed Standards that must be met by each electricity network company. These standards have been set to a level of service that it is reasonable to expect companies to deliver in all cases. Customers are entitled to compensation if distribution companies fail to meet the service standards required.
The current compensation rules were set in April 2023 for the duration of the current price control for electricity Distribution Network Operators (RIIO-ED2, 1 April 2023 – 31 March 2028).
Ofgem are developing the next five-year price control (RIIO-ED3 running 2028-2033) and will review their compensation arrangements as a part of this process.