Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with car insurance providers on the cost of insurance for young drivers.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance. However, it is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules.
There is evidence to suggest that younger drivers and those with less experience carry a higher risk. Some insurers have introduced the use of telematics or in-car black boxes to allow better risk-based pricing of insurance, especially for new drivers. It means insurers now have a real time data feed, which allows them to see an individual’s driving behaviour; this had not been possible in the past. This can help reduce insurance premiums if drivers show good driving behaviour with a black box installed in their cars.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has made with the Financial Ombudsman Service on support for people who have been missold a shared appreciation mortgage.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has received a number of complaints from people who purchased shared appreciation mortgages and are alert to the issues involved.
Any borrower that feels they have been mis-sold a shared appreciation mortgage should bring their complaint to the FOS, which can provide arbitration in such cases.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) publicise and (b) promote the maternity exemption to prescription charges; and what steps she is taking to ensure (i) rapid reimbursement and (ii) the removal of fines when the forms for patients entitled to the exemption are not correctly filed.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Both the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) and the National Health Service promote maternity exemption certificates to raise awareness amongst midwives, general practitioners, and other healthcare practitioners of their obligations to apply for maternity exemption certificates on behalf of the patient. They’ve also taken action to raise awareness amongst eligible individuals of their entitlement by promoting the certificates through social media, online resources, media releases, and through healthcare bulletins. Information on how to apply for a maternity exemption certificate is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/check-if-you-have-nhs-exemption/maternity-exemption-certificates
A maternity exemption certificate can be applied for as soon as a healthcare professional has confirmed the pregnancy or that the patient has given birth, including still-birth, in the previous 12 months. The certificate is automatically backdated one month from the date the application is received by the NHS BSA. Where a Penalty Charge Notice has been issued because a patient has claimed the maternity exemption without holding a valid maternity exemption certificate, the patient is given 60 days to pay the prescription charge and apply for an exemption certificate. The penalty charges will only then be removed.
The reimbursement of prescription charges usually takes place through a community pharmacy using the NHS FP57 receipt and refund form. In specific circumstances a refund request may require input from NHS BSA, these are processed and returned to the patient to take to the pharmacy within five working days.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment on the impact of (a) the Our Generation Our Vote project and (b) other political literacy projects on levels of political engagement among young people.
Answered by Damian Hinds
As part of the national curriculum for Citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, pupils will learn about Parliament, the importance of voting and elections, and the actions citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond. The national curriculum programmes of study for Citizenship are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-citizenship-programmes-of-study.
Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality, which require them to present partisan political issues in a balanced and impartial way. The department has published guidance to support schools to meet their duties regarding political impartiality which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance is clear that schools are responsible for reviewing any external materials that they use to ensure they are factual, balanced and age appropriate. The department therefore has no plans to assess the impact of the Our Generation Our Vote project or other political literacy projects, centrally.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the lessons that his Department could learn from (a) Oslo and (b) Helsinki on reducing road deaths to zero.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Whilst we look closely at a wide range of international examples, we have not made a specific assessment of Oslo or Helsinki.
The Department for Transport takes road safety for all road users seriously. Road fatality figures for Great Britain have been among the lowest in the world for many years. In 2022, Great Britain ranked fifth out of 38 countries with available data for lowest number of road fatalities per million population.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual (a) budget for reducing serious injury and death of the roads and (b) cost to the exchequer per casualty is.
Answered by Guy Opperman
There is no hypothecated budget for reducing serious injury and death, and spending to do so comes from a wide range of differing budgets.
We do not calculate the cost to the exchequer of road casualties.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to support West Yorkshire's strategy to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Transport takes road safety for all road users seriously and is supportive of local initiatives to improve road safety. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the council’s road safety policies because the local council has responsibility for making decisions about local roads, based on its local knowledge and taking into account local needs.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2024 to Question 7457 on Motor Vehicles: Insurance, if he will publish the (a) minutes and (b) attendance of meetings his Department has held with representatives of the motor insurance industry in the last 12 months.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance. The meetings tend to be informal so minutes and attendance at them are not kept.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to extend graduated driving licences from motorbike users to newly qualified car drivers.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department keeps driving licensing requirements under review, but there are not any plans to introduce any further restrictions on newly qualified car drivers.
We have a form of restricting novice drivers though the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995. On acquiring their first full licence, a new driver is on ‘probation’ for two years. During this time, they are subject to a limit of six penalty points received for any driving offences (including any received when in the learning stage). If six or more points are received, then a driver’s licence is revoked and must apply again for a provisional licence, re-entering the learning stage.
Two years after passing their first driving test, or on passing again after being subject to licence revocation under the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, drivers enter the full licence stage. There are no restrictions in this stage beyond basic legal requirements.
For new and novice drivers the Department’s broad aim is to improve road safety through new technology and research; and particularly for young drivers, developing better learning opportunities and targeted educational messaging, while reinforcing vital road safety messages through our THINK! Campaigns.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that individuals with family in the UK who switch to a SOC 6145 health worker visa are not separated from their dependents.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Individuals who choose to switch into a visa also choose to accept the terms and conditions of that visa. Further details on the net migration measures announced in December, including about dependant restrictions, are available here: www.gov.uk/government/news/fact-sheet-on-net-migration-measures-further-detail.