Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve oversight and coordination of road works undertaken by local authorities and utilities companies.

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

The Government supports lane rental as an effective measure to reduce congestion from the most disruptive works by incentivising better planning. It allows highway authorities to charge up to £2,500 per day for works on the busiest roads at peak times, incentivising quicker completion, off-peak scheduling, or alternative locations. We are facilitating the expansion of lane rental schemes, with updated guidance and application templates to be published shortly.

The Department’s digital service, Street Manager, is used by all highway authorities and utility companies in England to plan and manage works. Permits are applied for and granted through the service before works commence, providing a single source of information for the sector. This enables authorities to identify potential conflicts before approving permits. We also publish open data on live and planned works in real time, allowing developers to create tools that inform road users about disruptions.

Street Manager continues to evolve. Recent updates have enhanced coordination by highlighting potential clashes and improving collaboration features. In 2026, new functionality will support works on lane rental streets. Additionally, the new digital traffic orders system will centralise information on temporary road closures, making these details available as open data for wider public use.

The Department issues statutory guidance through the Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street and Road Works. We are currently working with industry stakeholders via the Highway Authorities and Utilities Committee to update this guidance with the aim of further improving coordination.

From January 2026, fixed penalty notices for certain street works offences, such as working without a permit or breaching permit conditions will double. Charges of up to £10,000 per day for overrunning works will also apply to weekends and bank holidays. These measures aim to strengthen compliance and improve coordination across the network.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of allowing academy trusts to prioritise feeder schools within their own trust on the distances that children travel to school.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Hazel Grove to the answer of 28 November 2025 to Question 92797.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of call-handling capacity at MyCSP and what action is being taken to reduce waiting times for members seeking assistance.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

As of Monday 1 December, MyCSP is no longer the contracted administrator for the Civil Service pension scheme. The new contract was awarded to Capita. To support the transition, Capita has employed an additional 194 staff over and above the workforce transferred from MyCSP. This has seen a 60% increase in the capacity of the customer contact centre.

The Cabinet Office has secured a robust contract containing strict performance levers; this includes financial penalties should Capita fail to answer calls within agreed timescales. A comprehensive governance structure is fully operational and reporting via oversight groups to ensure performance remains consistent with these contractual requirements.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what service standards on timeliness are in place for making decisions on Work Capability Assessments; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce these waiting times.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is one part of the process for making a UC or ESA benefit entitlement decision. Health Care Practitioners undertake the Work Capability Assessment and following this functional assessment make a recommendation to the department. Thereafter, a DWP Decision Maker reviews this recommendation and makes the decision on benefit entitlement.

We monitor customer journey times for WCAs, deploying additional staff if required, prioritising urgent cases and addressing backlogs. We consistently prioritise assessments for new claims to minimise waiting times.

Due to unforeseen high levels of WCAs required in late 2024, a backlog of reassessment cases built up from individuals reporting a change in their condition before May 2025. We are working with suppliers to increase capacity for clearing this backlog, including the acceleration of the recruitment of assessors. There are no backlogs within the DWP Decision Making stage.

The UC WCA statistics remain under development with Phase 2 having been completed in September 2024. WCA clearance times will be introduced during phase 4 (there are no timelines). Details of this strategy can be found on gov.uk at the below link. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-wca-statistics-release-strategy/universal-credit-work-capability-assessment-statistics-release-strategy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to support GP practices in providing specialist in-house coil clinics, in the content of levels of staffing, clinic space, equipment and stock availability; and what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for coil fittings.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government remains committed to ensuring equitable access to a range of contraceptive methods, including the coil.

Under the GP Contract, contraceptive services are part of the essential services that practices must provide, either directly or by making arrangements for their patients to access them. Integrated care boards (ICBs) may commission GPs to offer long acting reversible contraception, such as the contraceptive coil, as an enhanced service to their local population, in addition to the service provided through the GP Contract. It is for ICBs to decide on commissioning arrangements for their area based on an assessment of local need. Information on levels of staffing, clinic space, equipment and stock availability, and waiting times for coil fittings are not held centrally.

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 merits of a joined-up continence care pathway between the NHS, local authorities and care home providers to ensure residents receive appropriate and personalised continence support.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan will shift care from hospital to community, and will thereby help to drive more joint working in neighborhoods between primary care, pharmacies, community health care, and social care to help people to manage continence at home, helping them to have access to the right self-care, the right professional support so they aren’t passed from service to service, and reducing their need for emergency admissions to hospital.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on continence care recommends commissioners and providers deliver high quality management of continence care provision delivered in an integrated way.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the use of formaldehyde and other chemicals in fire retardants for furniture.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

As set out in the policy paper the fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture, published in January 2025, we are reviewing the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (FFRs) with the aim of maintaining a high level of fire safety while facilitating a reduction in chemical flame retardant use. We will provide a further update in due course.

The FFRs do not mandate the use of chemical flame retardants. Any chemicals used in the manufacture of furniture placed on the UK market, including to meet the FFRs’ flammability requirements, must comply with all relevant UK chemicals legislation.

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 neurology waiting times on patients; and what steps his Department is taking to support NHS trusts in reducing routine neurology backlogs.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises that long waits for neurology appointments can have a significant impact on patients, including delayed diagnosis, prolonged uncertainty, and potential deterioration in health and quality of life. Neurological conditions are often complex and require timely specialist input to prevent complications and support effective management. To address these challenges, the Government and NHS England are taking a range of steps to reduce waiting times and improve access to care.

Our Elective Reform Plan sets a clear target to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients start consultant-led treatment within 18 weeks of referral by March 2029. We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring lists and waiting times down. The plan sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard.

Initiatives such as Getting It Right First Time and RightCare are supporting systems to redesign neurology pathways, reduce unwarranted variation, and improve outpatient flow. These programmes provide evidence-based recommendations for integrated care models and better workforce planning.

NHS England’s Standardising Community Health Services guidance asks integrated care boards to include community neurorehabilitation as a core component of local services, helping to shift care closer to home and reduce pressure on hospital-based neurology clinics.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a transformed vision for elective care by 2035, where the majority of interactions no longer take place in a hospital building, instead happening virtually or via neighbourhood services. Planned care will be more efficient, timely, and effective, and will put control in the hands of patients.

We are also committed to transforming and expanding diagnostic services and speeding up waiting times for tests. This includes investment in new and expanded community diagnostic centres, which are supporting a key Government priority to shift care from the hospital to the community, which offer the tests needed to support diagnosis of suspected neurological conditions.

The Government’s forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

These actions form part of a wider strategy to improve access, reduce backlogs, and deliver high-quality neurological care across England.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the receipt of combined monthly benefit payments on claimants with (a) severe mental health conditions and (b) reduced capacity.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Universal Credit (UC) is designed to support people both in and out of work, using up to date information to assess UC entitlement each month, meaning that the benefit calculated accurately reflects the needs of the household.

DWP understands that some customers will require support to help them adjust to monthly payments. Money guidance on budgeting, debt, pensions and savings is provided at the customer’s initial work search interview. More frequent payments are available to customers who are struggling to adapt to monthly payments.

Tribute to Lance Corporal George Thomas Hooley

UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

Missing Evri deliveries

UK arms export licensing and conflict in Sudan

Winter NHS corridor care

Valporate report

Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill

Cumulative disruption proposals and the right to protest

President Trump’s 20-point peace plan