Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will conduct a feasibility study into the restoration of the Wealden railway line from Lewes to Uckfield; whether an impact assessment has been conducted since 2008 on restoring that line; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of restoring that line on (a) rail connectivity and (b) net zero targets.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Successive studies over the last two decades have indicated that the significant costs associated with re-instating the line between Lewes and Uckfield would exceed the benefits to passengers across Sussex. As such, our current focus remains on improving the performance and reliability of existing infrastructure and services.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring all drivers to complete a DVLA eye test.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All drivers have an ongoing legal responsibility to ensure that they meet the vision standards for driving, which includes being able to read a number plate from 20 metres, wearing glasses or corrective lenses if needed. Drivers must notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) at any time of a change in their health or vision which may affect their ability to meet the appropriate standards.
The Department for Transport supports the National Health Service’s recommendation that adults should have their eyes tested every two years and the DVLA encourages drivers to regularly check their own vision by reading a number plate from 20 metres and arranging a formal vision test when required. There are no current plans to introduce mandatory eyesight testing of all drivers.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 ensure (a) transparency and (b) public trust in the collection and sharing of NHS patient data.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Strong public trust is critical for the collection and sharing of National Health Service patient data, and transparency is key to building that trust and retaining public confidence.
NHS England publishes a range of documentation to maintain transparency about how data is used. These include:
- directions made by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to NHS England to establish information systems;
- Data Protection Impact Assessments and other documentation, which provide information on how the information will be used in particular programmes; and
- data use registers that include details of external data sharing agreements and are published monthly. All NHS Research Network Secure Data Environments also maintain a data use register that includes details of data access agreements.
Statutory roles and functions have also been established to provide confidence and assurance that data is used lawfully and for the benefit of patients. The Confidentiality Advisory Group of the Health Research Authority (HRA), provides independent, expert advice to the HRA, and to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on the use of confidential patient information, and their minutes and a register of the applications and decisions made are published. The National Data Guardian (NDG) provides advice to help ensure that people’s confidential information is kept safe and used properly. The eight Caldicott rules established by the previous NDG set out key principles for the use of confidential information, including that individuals are informed about how their data is used. Caldicott guardians in every NHS organisation work to ensure these principles are upheld. The NDG publishes an annual report on their work and objectives.
To further build trust, we are delivering a national programme of large-scale public engagement on data which will reach over 6,000 people across England, representative of our diverse communities. This provides the opportunity for us to meaningfully involve the public in decisions and changes to how their health data is used, and complements smaller-scale activities carried out by data programmes throughout the NHS.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support community-led developments; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the funding available for such schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises that community-led housing delivers a wide range of benefits, including additional housing supply, empowering communities, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy.
A range of funding sources are available to support the development of community-led housing, although eligibility will depend on the nature of specific developments. This includes the Levelling-Up Home Building Fund, which provides affordable loan finance for the development of sites of five units or more, and the Affordable Homes Programme, which provides grant funding to support the capital costs of developing affordable housing in England.
Beyond funding, the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 strengthened support for community-led housing, including through changes to the size limit on community-led exception sites and a broadening of the definition of organisations able to deliver community-led housing.
As part of the development of our Long Term Housing Strategy, we are considering how the government may further support the growth of the community-led housing sector and I recently met with the Chief Executive of the Community Land Trust Network and other stakeholders to discuss options in that regard.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) community information websites, (b) hobbyist forums and (c) other small (i) websites and (ii) discussion forums are not disproportionately affected by the regulatory requirements of the Online Safety Act 2023.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope user-to-user and search services must assess for risks of illegal content and harm to children. Ofcom is the independent regulator for this regime. It sets out what steps small low-risk providers need to take to fulfil their duties following their risk assessment. When implementing these duties, Ofcom is legally required to ensure burdens on providers are proportionate to their risk factors, size, and capacity. Ofcom recently launched an online digital toolkit, aimed at helping SMEs with compliance (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/ofcom-launches-digital-safety-toolkit-for-online-services/).
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has commissioned opinion polling on public attitudes towards (a) Brexit, (b) the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU, (c) the Windsor Framework and (d) the UK's relationship with the EU.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government Communication Service is not commissioning opinion polling on these topics.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on its target to build 1.5 million homes during this Parliament.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s Plan for Change includes an ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.
Progress will be measured through the number of net additional dwellings.
The department publishes a quarterly release entitled ‘Housing supply: Indicators of New Supply, England’. This includes estimates of new build starts and completions, by local authority, in each financial year since 1980-81, shown in Live Table 253 on gov.uk here.
We will continue to update Parliament in the usual manner.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the (a) fair treatment and (b) legal representation of British citizens detained abroad.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In cases where a British national is detained overseas, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) can provide information about the local legal system to help individuals understand what to expect and their rights, including any right to a state-appointed lawyer. Consular staff can also provide a list of local English-speaking lawyers. If fair trial concerns are raised, wherever possible, FCDO consular staff will discuss with the individual and their legal representative and agree appropriate action. This can include raising concerns with local authorities. Consular support in arrest and detention cases is set out online: [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/arrested-or-detained-abroad]
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of gambling advertising on (a) mental health, (b) wider public health, (c) family relationships and (d) financial wellbeing; and whether she plans to introduce restrictions on gambling advertising.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There are a range of robust rules in place to ensure that gambling adverts, wherever they appear, are socially responsible and do not exacerbate harm.
The Gambling Commission is further strengthening protections on marketing to improve customer control over the marketing they receive and the tightening rules on the design of incentives such as free bets.
However, as the Gambling Minister set out in her speech at the GambleAware conference on 4 December, the government recognises that more needs to be done to improve protections. The industry now has a clear task to further raise standards to ensure that levels of gambling advertising does not exacerbate harm, and this work will be monitored closely.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many consultants were employed by UK missions to the EU to manage (a) trade and (b) regulatory issues in the financial year (i) 2022–23 and (ii) 2023–24; what the cost of those consultants was; and how how many permanent civil servants were employed for the same reason.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Mission to the EU has approximately 67 Full Time Equivalent staff working on economic diplomacy: these are primarily related to managing regulatory issues and promoting trade. Resources of other missions supporting the devolved administrations are the responsibility of the relevant devolved administration. Spend on consultants is the responsibility of individual missions. This information is not centrally held.