Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for children with speech and language challenges in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department, in collaboration with NHS England, has extended the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme to strengthen early identification and intervention for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in early years settings and primary schools.
Under the Best Start in Life strategy, the department is investing in evidence-based initiatives such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which has demonstrated significant impact on oral language and early literacy, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
Since 2021, English Hubs have delivered targeted professional development to enhance whole class early language provision, primarily in early years and key stage 1, with plans to expand support for reception classes.
Recognising the critical role of speech and language therapists, the department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of ending temporary business rates reliefs for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses from 1 April 2026 on racehorse training yards.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, from 2026/27, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, with rateable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties in 2026/27 - those with Rateable Values (RVs) of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Ahead of these changes being made, we recognise that businesses will need support in 2025/26. As such, the Government has prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, and the Government has frozen the small business multiplier.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the business rates system from 1 April 2026 on businesses in the horseracing industry.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, from 2026/27, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, with rateable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties in 2026/27 - those with Rateable Values (RVs) of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Ahead of these changes being made, we recognise that businesses will need support in 2025/26. As such, the Government has prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, and the Government has frozen the small business multiplier.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 adequacy of late-night pharmacy provision in Newbury constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authority health and wellbeing boards have a statutory responsibility to assess if local provision, including pharmacies’ opening hours, is adequate to meet local needs for pharmaceutical services and to publish their assessments every three years.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 potential impact of risk-stratified screening on improving early detection of prostate cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which advises ministers on all screening matters, commissioned an evidence review modelling the clinical effectiveness and cost of several approaches to prostate cancer screening. This included different potential ways of screening the whole population and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.
The modelling and evidence review reports are now complete, and the UK NSC plans to open a three-month public consultation towards the end of the year. After this, the UK NSC will make a recommendation on screening for prostate cancer. Ministers will then be asked to consider whether to accept the recommendation.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Digital Services Tax; and whether she plans to review the rate at which it is set.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor and any changes will be announced at the budget in the usual way.
The Digital Services Tax is an interim solution to widely held concerns with the international corporate tax framework, and the UK remains committed to remove it once a global solution on the reallocation of taxing rights is in place.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that all potential liabilities associated with unadopted assets in the housing sector are (a) identified and (b) accounted for.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential liabilities associated with unadopted assets in the housing sector.
An overview of the government’s plans in respect of private and mixed-tenure housing estates can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to amend the NHS dental contract to prevent NHS patients from being required to pay the full cost of treatment at the time of booking an appointment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The dental contract does not provide any legal basis for a dental practice to take payment for National Health Service dental work before a course of treatment has been delivered. An NHS dentist or dental professional should not charge a deposit before assessing a patient’s mouth and teeth or checking their symptoms. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/what-happens-when-you-visit-the-dentist/
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, and for determining the priorities for investment, in order to meet the needs of the local populations. If dental practices are operating outside of their contract, the ICB will be able to engage with the practice to resolve this issue.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Single Transferable Vote system in elections for newly established unitary councils.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Elections for existing unitary councils are held under the First Past the Post system. There are no plans to change the voting system for local council elections in England and elections for newly established unitary councils will also be held under this voting system.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department provides (a) training and (b) support to teachers working with children experiencing alienation from a (i) parent and (ii) grandparent.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework sets out the core content that defines great teaching and must be used by all providers of initial and early career teacher training to create their curricula. The framework sets out that trainees and early career teachers should learn how to develop an understanding of each pupil's individual needs by engaging with parents and carers to better understand these individual needs, and building trusting relationships with parents and carers to better understand each pupil's circumstances. Beyond the mandatory framework, decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rests with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge the development and training that teachers in their schools need to support their pupils.