Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is considering additional fiscal support for (a) small business and (b) hospitality.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The hospitality sector and small businesses make significant contributions to the exchequer, the UK economy, and society.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Furthermore, we have worked with the hospitality sector to announce the first National Licensing Policy Framework which sets a new strategic direction for licensing authorities and encourages them to have more regard to growth when reviewing licensing applications and decisions. Responding to sector asks, we will also explore further planning reforms to make it easier for hospitality and high-street businesses to expand and grow. To help drive these reforms, we will appoint a new Retail and Hospitality Envoy to champion these sectors across government.
This is on top of measures we have already announced, such as:
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 he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing appropriately skilled professionals using a competency-based framework to undertake Initial Health Assessments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are responsible for making sure a health assessment of physical, emotional and mental health needs is carried out for every child they look after, regardless of where that child lives. Integrated care boards (ICBs) commission a health provider to undertake initial health assessments (IHAs). The service specification for this service is aligned to the current Children Act 1989 regulations.
The regulations for health assessments are set out in the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations colume 2: care planning, placement and case review and supported within the statutory guidance Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children.
Regulation 7(3) of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 states that IHAs are required to be undertaken within twenty days of a child coming into the care of the local authority. The current regulations for the Children Act 1989 state that the IHA should be undertaken by a registered medical practitioner.
This is different to a review health assessment, which may be carried out by a registered medical practitioner, or by a registered nurse or registered midwife, under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner, as stated in regulation 7(3).
No assessment has been made on the potential merits of allowing additional appropriately skilled professionals using a competency-based framework to undertake IHAs.
If IHAs are not happening on time, ICBs are the first line of statutory safeguarding assurance, which includes identifying early warning signs and responding to risks at local levels. NHS England, through ICBs, also undertake annual checks on how safeguarding, and other statutory commitments, are working in practice and across the system. NHS England is working with ICBs to improve the timeliness of IHAs and review health assessments.
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 steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for occupational therapy a) assessments and b) reassessments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for the commissioning Occupational Therapy services that meet the needs of their local populations. This includes overseeing waiting lists for access to Occupational Therapy services, improve outcomes and deliver best value from the health budget.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that planning policy adequately reflects the potential risks posed by dynamic environments such as a) estuaries, b) floodplains and c) coastlines.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Chapter 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out a holistic approach to meeting the challenges of climate change, coastal change, and flooding. It makes clear that the planning system should take full account of all climate impacts, including coastal change and flood risk.
The Framework outlines a sequential approach to flood risk management, requiring inappropriate development to be directed away from areas at highest risk, and providing strong safeguards where development is necessary in these areas. It also specifies that local planning authorities should limit the planned lifetime of development in Coastal Change Management Areas through temporary permissions and restoration conditions if necessary to reduce unacceptable levels of future risk to people or development.
The government is considering whether further changes are required to sufficiently reflect the risks to such areas and we intend to consult on a new suite of national policies for decision making before the end of this year.
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, if he will direct electricity providers to periodically conduct Electrical Installation Condition Reports.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80904 on 10 October 2025.
Electricity providers, the electricity network operators and electricity suppliers, the companies who distribute and supply electricity to homes and businesses, have no role in electrical safety inspections and are not responsible for electrical safety in homes and businesses.
For social rented homes we have introduced regulations, that came into force this month, requiring all landlords to have the electrical installations in their properties inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years. This is in line with regulations already in place in the private rented sector. Social landlords must also have the electrical equipment that they provide under the tenancy checked by a qualified person at least every five years.
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 access to specialist endometriosis services for young people aged 17 and under.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that girls and women deserve better, which is why we are renewing the Women’s Health Strategy, to assess the progress that has been made so far and to continue progressing delivery while empowering women with information about heavy menstrual bleeding and reproductive health conditions.
All hospitals providing specialised care and treatment for endometriosis for patients aged 17 and under must have a paediatric gynaecologist as part of their multi-disciplinary team, who will be a part of the treatment planning and decision-making process. The individual’s parents or a person with parental responsibility must also be involved where applicable. If this is not available, these patients must be referred to a paediatric and adolescent gynaecology service.
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 steps he is taking to (a) help reduce delays in continuing healthcare reviews for previously unassessed periods of care and (b) reduce the associated administration.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England published guidance in 2023 for assessing requests for Previously Unassessed Periods of Care (PUPoC). This guidance sets out how integrated care boards (ICBs) should approach and address PUPoC assessment requests. The guidance is available at the following link:
The guidance states that ICBs should set their own reasonable and proportionate timeframes for responding to requests. It provides best practice examples for how ICBs should complete PUPoC requests, based on the timeframe for the unassessed period of care and the completion of the required application and consent forms.
NHS England publishes quarterly statistics relating to the activity of NHS Continuing Healthcare and National Health Service-funded Nursing Care which includes PUPoC data, reporting on the number of cases agreed eligible, both total and per 50,000. This is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/nhs-chc-fnc/
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that households without signal are able to access the smart meter network.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Data Communications Company (DCC) is obligated under the conditions of its licence to provide Wide Area Network (WAN) coverage to at least 99.25% of premises across Great Britain.
The DCC is also required by licence conditions to seek to provide coverage to all premises where it is practicable and cost proportionate, and to assess opportunities to increase the overall level of coverage. For the minority of premises that currently do not receive WAN coverage, a new solution will be trialled early next year which will involve harnessing, with their consent, customers’ broadband connections to carry smart metering communications.
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 his Department has made of the adequacy of levels of public understanding of winter illness (a) transmission and (b) prevention; and if he will consider a public information campaign on infection prevention, in addition to vaccination programmes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Public Perceptions Tracker provides insight into public attitudes and behaviours in relation to priority public health issues. It is a quarterly online survey, with a sample of approximately 1,000 participants per wave. The sample is representative of the following groups in England: gender identity; age; region; and social grade; interlocked with ethnicity.
In addition to vaccine campaigns, the UKHSA runs annual no-cost public information campaigns each winter, focused on promoting infection prevention behaviours. The campaign includes social media content, downloadable digital assets, and stakeholder engagement.
The UKHSA produces 'Virus Watch' which includes 60-second expert videos, explanatory infographics, and data summaries. This aims to help people understand which viruses are circulating and take the right actions to protect their health and prevent spread.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of schools being required to have specialist allergy nurses.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed. Any member of school staff providing support to a pupil with medical needs should have received suitable training. School nursing services provide health and wellbeing support for children and young people from age 4 up to 19. They provide specialist advice to schools on the management of medical conditions, including allergies.
Schools must have regard to the ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ statutory guidance, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.
The department has committed to reviewing this guidance and intends to issue a consultation on an updated version of this statutory guidance.