Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what guidance his Department provides to energy suppliers on prioritising households in rural areas, such as those in North Yorkshire where neither radio nor 4G smart meter connectivity is viable, for participation in trials of Wi-Fi-enabled smart meters.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is working closely with the DCC and energy suppliers to ensure smart meter connectivity can be extended to currently unserved properties in all regions as soon as reasonably possible. One such solution, currently being trialled, will involve Virtual WAN (VWAN) - a new option that, with their consent, uses customers’ broadband connections to carry smart metering communications.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of localised connectivity limitations on rural households; and what steps he is taking to ensure that rural communities are not disadvantaged in comparison with urban areas.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is working closely with the DCC and energy suppliers to ensure smart meter connectivity can be extended to currently unserved properties in all regions as soon as reasonably possible. One such solution, currently being trialled, will involve Virtual WAN (VWAN) - a new option that, with their consent, uses customers’ broadband connections to carry smart metering communications.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure households in rural communities that cannot receive smart meter connections via (a) long-range radio and (b) 4G are able to access alternative connectivity, including Wi-Fi-enabled smart meters.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is working closely with the DCC and energy suppliers to ensure smart meter connectivity can be extended to currently unserved properties in all regions as soon as reasonably possible. One such solution, currently being trialled, will involve Virtual WAN (VWAN) - a new option that, with their consent, uses customers’ broadband connections to carry smart metering communications.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic and social impact on rural pubs and hospitality businesses of reducing the drink driving limit; and whether alternative measures have been considered.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is consulting on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences, as part of the recently published Road Safety Strategy.
As part of this, the Government is consulting on the general principle of lowering the drink drive limit in England and Wales, which has remained unchanged since 1967 and is currently the highest in Europe.
Current evidence does not suggest a widespread or sustained adverse impact on the hospitality sector overall, but the Government will conduct an impact assessment following consultation responses and an evidenceled options analysis.
The consultation is seeking views on a range of measures to reduce drink-driving, including options such as alcohol ignition interlocks (“alcolocks”) for offenders and powers to suspend licences for suspected drink or drug drivers.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2025 to Question 99769, what support his Department is providing to non-energy intensive industries.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has recently announced the decision to directly regulate energy brokers and other Third Party Intermediaries (TPIs). Once implemented, our plans will help ensure that consumers, in particular businesses, can trust that brokers are acting in their best interests. The Government has also published a consultation with proposals to strengthen the powers of the Energy Ombudsman to ensure consumers receive fairer and faster redress. Taken together these measures aim to improve competition and market access, and ensure that non-domestic customers are able to access free dispute resolution support.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce knife crime in rural areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are already making clear progress against our ambition to halve knife crime. In our first year, police-recorded knife crime offences fell by 5%, the first reduction in four years.
Knife homicides have also fallen by almost 20% over the last year, and we have seen a 10% reduction in hospital admissions for stabbings.
Whilst most knife crime occurs in urban centres, our national target to halve knife crime and whole society approach will reach every area. Our approach to tackling knife crime is centred around targeted interventions and enforcement, tough new legislation to remove dangerous weapons from our streets and working across government to tackle the root causes of knife crime where they are needed most.
We have banned zombie knives and ninja swords and are holding online sellers criminally responsible removing almost 60,000 knives from streets in England and Wales. We are taking a range of action in the Crime and Policing Bill to strengthen legislation on knives.
New crime mapping tools are already allowing us to identify highly specific knife crime hotspots and focus police and community safety resources where they are needed most. Further investment in cutting-edge capabilities, such as knife detection technology, improved data platforms, and live facial recognition will further enhance our ability to target knife crime.
Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament, including up to 3,000 by March 2026. It will also ensure that every community, including rural communities, has named and contactable officers they can turn to.
This Government is clear that when you report a crime, it should be properly investigated with victims having faith that justice will be delivered, and criminals will be punished – no matter where you live. Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 effectiveness of public awareness campaigns on hypertension; and whether he plans to introduce additional measures to encourage regular blood pressure monitoring amongst adults.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In March 2024, the Department launched a campaign to raise awareness of high blood pressure, or hypertension, and to encourage those eligible to get checked for free at their local pharmacy. The campaign ran for three weeks with advertising on television, video-on-demand, social media, and on poster sites near to pharmacies, in addition to public relations and partnerships support.
Visits to the National Health Service pharmacy look-up tool increased by over 967%, and there were 117,546 visits to the tool over the campaign period, compared to 12,154 in the three weeks prior to the campaign launch. In March 2024, 50,046 more people got life-saving blood pressure checks than in the same period the previous year, a 42% uplift. In April 2024, there were 76,627 more checks, equivalent to a 66% uplift.
We continue to invest heavily in the community pharmacy hypertension service, and since October 2021, pharmacies have delivered nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring checks. In addition, the NHS Blood Pressure @Home initiative has delivered over 220,000 blood pressure monitors to enable at-risk patients to measure their blood pressure remotely.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 improve early detection and management of high blood pressure; and whether he plans to expand community-based screening initiatives.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The single greatest risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is raised blood pressure and as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a modern service framework for CVD later this year. The framework will identify the best evidenced interventions, set clear quality standards, drive innovation in CVD prevention and management, and reduce unwarranted variation.
We have invested heavily in hypertension case-finding for those over 40 years old in community pharmacies. As part of the service, pharmacies have delivered nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring checks since October 2021 and as of August 2024, 7,641 pharmacies were actively delivering the service.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 help reduce male suicide rates through access to timely mental health care, follow-up after (a) self-harm and (b) crisis presentations and support for men at high-risk due to (i) relationship breakdown and (ii) trauma.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into neighbourhood mental health centres which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, improving assertive outreach and access to timely mental health care, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to all-hours support directly through the NHS App. These services are available to men at high-risk due to relationship breakdown and trauma.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men and people who have self-harmed as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.
On 19 November 2025, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The Strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 99775, what her planned timetable is for improvements to security, flow and passenger experience for UK-bound passengers at Paris Gare du Nord.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the Immigration White Paper, the Government set out our ambition to use new technologies to increase the use of automation at the UK border, including at Paris Gare du Nord, and deliver visible changes to security, passenger flow and the customer experience.
We intend to set out further details on contactless travel and our plans to transform the UK border later this year.