Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the ratio between revenue raised by the Building Safety Levy, and building remediation expenditure, in rural areas.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The building safety levy has built in measures to minimise impact on housing while balancing the need to raise the revenue required to make homes safe. Measures to achieve this include:
The Building Safety Levy is an industry contribution towards building safety remediation. Revenue is raised from new, non-exempt, residential development which principally occurs in and around urban areas. Expenditure is directed at buildings over 11m in height which are principally located in urban areas.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to (a) increase dental student training places (i) at Peninsula Dental School and (ii) in the South West and (b) ensure that dental workforce planning includes recruitment and retention in (A) rural and (B) coastal areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Peninsula Dental School would be considered for any possible future allocated dental training places, as would other dental schools in the same position, including in the South West.
For the allocation of additional training places to begin, a guidance letter confirming the maximum fundable limit for training places must be sent to the Office for Students. A guidance letter has not yet been sent for 2026/27.
Later this year, we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. Our workforce plan will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas. Integrated care boards are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when dental contracts will be uplifted in England; and what that uplift will be in percentage terms.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department accepted the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) recommendation of a 4% increase in the pay element of the dental contract. The Department will be engaging with the British Dental Association on the implementation of this uplift in due course.
The Department published its response to 2025/26 pay recommendations earlier than it has for several years. This paves the way for staff getting their pay rises earlier, including general dental practitioners, via uplifts to NHS dental contracts.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase intake numbers at dental schools (a) for dental (i) hygienists and (ii) therapists and (b) in general.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
According to the Higher Education Students Early Statistics survey, the number of student starters in dental hygiene courses increased to 150 in the 2024/25 academic year, compared to 140 in 2023/24. Similarly, the number of student starters in dental therapy courses increased to 335 in 2024/25, up from 315 in the previous year.
We want to remove the barriers to training in clinical roles, which is why eligible dental hygiene and dental therapy students can access the NHS Learning Support Fund. This includes a non-repayable grant of £5,000 per academic year, and further support is available for childcare, dual accommodation costs, and travel. The funding arrangements are reviewed annually at the start of each academic year.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of procuring additional E-7A Wedgetail AEW Mk1 aircraft beyond those specified in the 2021 Integrated Defence Review.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence is continuing with its procurement of E-7 Wedgetail in order to meet the national and NATO requirements for an Airborne Early Warning and Control capability which is interoperable with its allies.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to ensure that serving armed forces personnel living alone in service accommodation who are parents have time with their children.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) remains committed to widening entitlement to family accommodation to support personnel with non-resident children, as set out in the Modernised Accommodation Offer. The policy and timescales for these changes remain under review.
Currently, entitlement to Service Family Accommodation (SFA) is necessarily driven by personnel’s status as accompanied or unaccompanied. Those who are single, whilst retaining “Prime Mover” status for their child(ren), have a prima facie entitlement to SFA. Single parents with child(ren) who do not reside with them permanently are eligible to apply for surplus SFA where capacity allows; moreover, no Service person is required to reside in Service-owned Single Living Accommodation (SLA) or SFA and may choose to rent locally to better accommodate their personal circumstances. Additionally, the MOD offers support for eligible personnel to purchase a home through the Forces Help to Buy Scheme.
If residing in SLA, Serving parents with non-resident children may access Service-provided Contact Houses at minimal cost. Contact Houses are fully furnished ‘homes from home’ which seek to meet the needs of those with family or welfare needs which fall outside of the permanent accommodation entitlement criteria, and without imposing an unsustainable financial burden.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Sanctions and Anti‑Money Laundering Act 2018, what steps his Department will take to ensure British Overseas Territories implement public registers of beneficial ownership in a timely fashion; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of legitimate interest access to beneficial ownership registers on levels of transparency.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Please refer to my Written Ministerial Statement of 3 July which provides an update and details of next steps.
We have made very clear to our partners in the remaining Overseas Territories the importance of delivering on the previously committed to deadlines, and have offered technical support to achieve this. We have communicated that we expect rapid and robust action to be taken, given the crucial importance of tackling illicit finance and increasing transparency. We have set out that we expect access to be granted to a wide range of legitimate users, that registers should enable proactive investigations and should act as a deterrent to those seeking to conceal illicit gains.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials have conducted an in-house assessment of the latest policies and proposals from these Overseas Territories against the discussions at the Joint Ministerial Council in November 2024. In addition, we have reviewed feedback from a range of external stakeholders including expert NGOs and parliamentarians. We have also considered emerging international modalities which cover legitimate interest access registers.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to amend the eligibility requirements for free NHS prescriptions, in the context of increases to the State Pension age.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department currently has no plans to align the upper age prescription charge exemption with the State Pension age.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces recruits have received a conditional offer letter within 10 days from the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force since 1 January 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Following the announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence in September 2024 of the ambition to make a conditional offer of employment to candidates within 10 days, and a provisional training start date within 30 days if they desire it, the Armed Forces have been focused on implementing this initiative into their recruitment pipelines. Significant work to expedite basic eligibility checks has been required to ensure an appropriate level of candidate checks is completed before conditional offers are issued, and they are working to expedite checks. I will make further announcements on progress in due course.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to increase the uptake of statutory paternity leave.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to making life better for families. Through the Employment Rights Bill we are making Paternity Leave a ‘day one’ right, which will bring an extra 32,000 fathers and partners into scope of the entitlement. On the first of July we launched the Parental Leave Review, which presents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements, including Paternity Leave and Pay, will be in scope.