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, whether support is available to rural households and businesses reliant on LPG in addition to the Crisis and Resilience Fund.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is available in England to support low-income households reliant on LPG who are facing a crisis and need immediate financial support. It is for local authorities to determine individual need and the most appropriate form of support, using a person centred, needs based approach in line with the Fund’s guidance. The CRF does not offer business support.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the context of SEND reforms, how her Department plans to implement identification of special education needs in children younger than five years old; and how early intervention will be enacted.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We are consulting on proposals to reform the special educational needs and disabilities system, including strengthening early identification and support in early years settings. We also propose introducing a fast track for a Specialist Provision Package for children under 5 whose needs are complex and identified at an early stage and to work with the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England on these proposals, including improving information sharing between health professionals and local authorities.
We have already made the commitment that Every Best Start Family Hub will have a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner, who is a dedicated professional who works across hubs and outreach sites to support early identification and support children with emerging needs, particularly those aged 0 to 5.
Together, these reforms will mean children’s needs will be identified earlier, gaps will be closed sooner, and more children will make strong progress in line with our Best Start in Life ambition.
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, whether his Department has explored the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in electrocardiogram (ECG) diagnostics.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most modern electrocardiogram (ECG) machines already include algorithm-based decision support to assist with interpretation and to generate an automated report. As with all diagnostic tests, any automated output must be interpreted by a suitably qualified clinician in the context of the individual patient’s clinical presentation. The Government is engaging with partners developing enhanced ECG technologies, to support wider adoption as evidence and readiness allow.
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, when self-referral to community audiologists will be enabled on the NHS app.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to enabling patients to access digital health and care services to manage their health. As part of its work to support self-referral services for National Health Service patients in the musculoskeletal community, the Government is assessing how to develop these services for other communities, including those of audiologists. Work is expected to take place this financial year and will consider whether the NHS App is the best mechanism for self-referral.
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 properties that have had planning permission for over six months yet no building work has yet commenced.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 122315 on 1 April 2026.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to expand supported internships to further education students on individual support plans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is consulting on proposals to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, and you can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/. We are considering the impact of the proposed reforms on specific programmes including supported internships.
We are already piloting supported internships for young people with SEND who do not have education, health and care plans. We have seen positive outcomes from the pilot and have recently announced that we are investing £9 million to continue this for a further year. The pilot is being evaluated and this learning will inform future policy development.
Supported Internships remain a proven pathway to employment for young people furthest from the labour market, with thousands of high-quality opportunities now available across the country with a range of employers, following significant investment.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made on the cost of removing VAT on the renovation of unoccupied properties.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of reusing existing housing stock to deliver new homes. To support this, residential renovations are subject to a reduced rate of VAT of five per cent if they meet certain conditions. These include the renovation of properties that have been empty for two or more years.
HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs where possible in its annual tax reliefs publication. The latest tax relief statistics publication and further information about how HMRC estimate the cost of tax reliefs can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
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 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.