Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce the impact of noise from fireworks on (a) dogs and (b) other animals; and whether she plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the maximum noise level for consumer fireworks from 120 to 90 decibels on (i) dogs and (ii) other animals.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time is for a driving test in Aylesbury; and when the backlog for those tests will be cleared.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The average waiting time in weeks, as of October 2025, at Aylesbury driving test centre (DTC) was 19 weeks.

The average waiting time in weeks, as of October 2025, for other DTC’s that might serve customers in the area, are shown below:

Bletchley – 24 weeks

High Wycombe – 5 weeks

Leighton Buzzard – 24 weeks

Oxford – 24 weeks

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The agency is intensifying its efforts to reduce waiting times and improve access to driving tests that will break down barriers to opportunity as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

At the Transport Select committee on 12 November 2025, the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed the latest DVSA modelling shows it is not possible to meet a 7-week waiting time by summer 2026. There are several factors driving higher demand for tests, and it is not currently possible to say when waiting times will reduce to 7-weeks or fewer. The Secretary of State will be working closely with DVSA in addressing this important issue.

In the coming months, DVSA will:

• change the booking service to allow only learner car drivers to book and manage their tests
• introduce a limit on the number of times a learner car driver can move or swap a test to twice and also limit the area they can move a test to once booked.
• make use of Ministry of Defence (MOD) driving examiners for up to 12 months to help tackle driving test waiting times.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the number of unclaimed matured HMRC-allocated Child Trust Funds (CTF) which have been automatically transferred into Individual Savings Accounts at the direction of their account provider and without positive acceptance by their young adult owners; and whether these accounts remain separately identified as such in order to be eligible for any automatic release scheme for unclaimed matured HMRC-allocated CTF accounts that may be introduced in the future.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Information on Child Trust Funds is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2025

We cannot answer each element of the 2 questions as HMRC does not receive a breakdown of unclaimed matured Child Trust Fund accounts from providers. This means we can’t identify which CTFs have been HMRC allocated and transferred into ISAs, nor breakdown the figures shared in the press release on the 30th September.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the number of unclaimed matured HMRC-allocated Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts which are included within the total quoted in the HMRC press release on 30 September 2025 for all matured CTFs which have neither been claimed by their owners nor automatically transferred.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Information on Child Trust Funds is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2025

We cannot answer each element of the 2 questions as HMRC does not receive a breakdown of unclaimed matured Child Trust Fund accounts from providers. This means we can’t identify which CTFs have been HMRC allocated and transferred into ISAs, nor breakdown the figures shared in the press release on the 30th September.

Found: Entwistle MP HM Treasury Tom Hayes MP Housing, Communities and Local Government Laura Kyrke-Smith