Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will support the emerging wine and wine tourism industry in Chichester by reducing taxes on produce sold to visitors on site.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no current plans to make changes to the alcohol duty system that was introduced in 2023 following extensive public consultation. The Government will progress its existing commitment to evaluate the impacts of the 2023 reforms and, as with all taxes, alcohol duty will be kept under review as part of the Budget process.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of empty properties in Chichester constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Statistics on empty properties in England are published annually and can be found on gov.uk. Data on vacant homes is not broken down by constituency.
Housing policy is a devolved matter, so information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is held by the respective devolved administrations.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of empty properties there are in the UK.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Statistics on empty properties in England are published annually and can be found on gov.uk. Data on vacant homes is not broken down by constituency.
Housing policy is a devolved matter, so information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is held by the respective devolved administrations.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of whether current guidance provides sufficient detail to ensure consistent interpretation of Special Rules for End of Life eligibility criteria across clinical settings.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government undertook a comprehensive review of the Special Rules for End of Life in 2020. Following that review, legislation was amended in 2022 and 2023, with cross party support, to extend eligibility so that people who might have 12 months or less to live can access fast tracked support. This replaced the previous 6-month definition and is aligned with the approach used in current NHS practice for defining end of life.
Guidance was updated alongside these legislative changes to support consistent interpretation across clinical settings and to ensure clinicians are supported by a definition that reflects established NHS practice. Aligning the definition with the NHS helps provide greater clarity and confidence for clinicians when providing evidence, while recognising the inherent difficulty of providing precise prognostic estimates
Clinical evidence to support a claim under the Special Rules for End of Life is usually provided through the SR1 form (which can be found by searching for ‘Send an SR1 medical evidence form’ on GOV.UK). The SR1 is a short medical evidence form which can be completed by an approved clinician and provides clinical confirmation that a person is likely to have 12 months or less to live, which allows the Department to apply the Special Rules for End of Life
The Department keeps the operation of the Special Rules under review and is committed to continuous improvement. We work closely with clinicians and stakeholder organisations to gather feedback on guidance and processes. Current work is focused on reviewing and improving the SR1 digital portal to make it easier and quicker for clinicians to submit evidence, supporting timely and consistent decision making for people nearing the end of life.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the feasibility and ecological impact of reintroducing the Eurasian lynx to woodland areas in England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not undertaken any formal assessment of the feasibility and ecological impact of reintroducing the Eurasian lynx to woodland areas in England.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 impact of mandatory Advice and Guidance requirements on ensuring that appropriate referrals for endometriosis are not delayed or blocked.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The GP Contract does not mandate the use of Advice and Guidance (A&G) in all circumstances. Instead, as per the Medium-Term Planning Framework published in October 2025, providers are expected to prioritise A&G prior to or in place of a planned care referral for at least ten specialties, selected locally for greatest overall benefit and to shape delivery of elective pathways. General practice should be involved in discussions to decide on which ten specialties are the most appropriate. This does not take away a GP’s right to refer, which remains a matter of clinical judgement. This reflects longstanding planned‑care referral practice and does not alter existing legal or professional accountability frameworks for GPs.
A&G is designed to support quicker, clearer clinical decision making, by enabling GPs and specialists to discuss and agree the most appropriate next steps for a patient, including those with or suspected to have endometriosis. Where the outcome of advice is for care management in the community, we expect patients to be seen more quickly, closer to home, benefiting from earlier specialist input. In these cases, the GP may still subsequently refer their patient at any point if they have concerns.
The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy commits to speeding up diagnosis and access to treatment for women with endometriosis. The strategy announces a new programme to improve education for girls about their menstrual health, investing an additional £1 million to support targeted work in schools and community settings to support girls’ knowledge about menstrual health and when to seek healthcare. This is an important factor to delays in diagnosis and treatment for endometriosis.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will undertake a review of the legal management of divorce proceedings; and if he will make it his policy to reform interim financial arrangements to ensure neither party is financially disadvantaged or placed in financial difficulty prior to the final settlement.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has no plans to undertake a further review of divorce law in respect of the way in which marriages are dissolved. This is because significant reforms were introduced by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (“DDSA”) 2020, which came into force on 6 April 2022. These reforms established a system of no-fault divorce, enabled joint applications and strengthened protections for respondents, including by making provision to delay the final order where financial disadvantage may arise before the settlement becomes final.
The law governing financial remedies on divorce enables parties to apply to the court for the division of assets. This legislation also allows applications for interim maintenance orders (known as “maintenance pending suit”) once a divorce application has been made. These orders can meet immediate needs, in so far as the court thinks reasonable, before a financial settlement is reached.
The Law Commission conducted a review of the law relating to financial remedies on divorce in December 2024. The Government will be considering issues raised by the Law Commission, including issues relating to vulnerable individuals, in its upcoming consultation on Cohabitation and Financial Remedies.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Steel Strategy on the wider UK steel supply chain, including downstream manufacturers and fabricators.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government recognises the distinct value of downstream users, including in the manufacturing supply chain, alongside the importance of maintaining a resilient domestic steel sector.
We continue to engage extensively with industry and other stakeholders as we move into the delivery phase of the steel strategy, following its publication on the 19 March. This includes work to implement the new trade measure on 1 July. The publication of any further information will be considered as this progresses.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to schools and local authorities on recognising and supporting pupils with a Pathological Demand Avoidance profile when developing an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
All children will benefit from a strengthened universal offer of high quality, inclusive teaching in every mainstream setting, with early identification of needs and evidence-based support as standard. On top of the universal offer, we propose that there will be three flexible layers of support for those that need it. These layers are Targeted, Targeted Plus and Specialist. These layers will be guided by the National Inclusion Standards, which will provide evidence-informed tools and strategies for identifying and supporting children’s needs, including for children with profiles of need such as Pathological Demand Avoidance. Children in early years settings, mainstream schools and colleges will benefit from access to education and support from health professionals without long waits for assessments.
Children will not need a statutory education, health and care (EHC) plan to receive Targeted or Targeted Plus support, as there will be a duty on schools and funding to provide it. Settings will have a statutory duty to record and monitor special educational needs and provision in an Individual Support Plan for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
For those with complex needs, we are developing new Specialist Provision Packages (SPPs), designed with independent experts and tested with parents, and intended to each include a description of the need profile it is designed to support. SPPs will underpin the right to the educational provision set out in an EHC plan, and we propose that only those children and young people who need an SPP will have an EHC plan in future.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that card payment processing fees do not disproportionately burden small and independent traders.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the cost of accepting payments, including cards, is fair to all parties, and that our payment systems work for all.
There are a number of fees that can be placed on merchants, including interchange fees which are governed by the Interchange Fee Regulations 2015 (IFR). The IFR caps the fees that are paid by a merchant (or trader) to the card user’s bank. The caps are currently set at 0.2% for every transaction using a debit card, and 0.3% for credit card transactions.
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), the UK’s economic regulator for payments, has recently concluded two market reviews into card fees to assess if increases in prices are fair and reflect a market that is operating well. The PSR is now considering its next steps, including remedies designed to increase the transparency of scheme and processing fees.
https://www.psr.org.uk/our-work/market-reviews/
The Government is also committed to ensuring that payment options remain affordable and accessible for small businesses, including through measures that promote competition and reduce unnecessary costs. The National Payments Vision, published in November 2024, sets out the Government’s ambitions for a trusted, world-leading payments ecosystem delivered on next generation technology, where consumers and businesses have a choice of payment methods to meet their needs.
This included the ambition for seamless account-to-account payments to be developed as a ubiquitous payment method – enabling consumers to pay digitally for goods and services in shops and online, without using a card. This would provide greater choice to consumers and merchants in how they make and receive payments, which in turn is likely to spur innovation and downward competitive pressure on the cost of payments.