Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of local authorities which voluntarily provide support for self-employed adoptive parents in each of the last five years.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not collect information from local authorities or regional adoption agencies on the extent to which they provide voluntary support for self-employed adoptive parents.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there has been any consideration given to designating blood bikes within the exemptions to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, under section 87.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

There are no plans to give ‘blood bikes’ any road traffic exemptions or warning equipment. ‘Blood bikes’ provide a valuable courier service to the NHS, but they do not respond to emergencies and are not an emergency service. NHS Blood and Transplant provide an emergency blood service which is fully provided for in legislation should the supply of blood in a hospital blood bank require urgent unscheduled replenishment.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an estimate of the (a) number of local authorities which have exempted blood bikes from the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, (b) cost of those exemptions individually and (c) savings from a national exemption.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Local authorities cannot extend the speed exemption in section 87 of The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to ‘Blood Bikes’ or any other class of vehicle. Like the exemptions to red traffic lights and keep left / right signs in The Traffic Signs, Regulations and General Directions 2016, these emergency driving exemptions are a matter for Parliament. Consequently, no such calculations or estimates have been made.

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 reimburse or provide financial support to families of dementia patients who are required to pay for care while local authorities consider their applications for support.

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

Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs, as set out in the Care Act 2014.

The Care and Support Statutory Guidance states that “an assessment should be carried out over an appropriate and reasonable timescale taking into account the urgency of needs and a consideration of any fluctuation in those needs”. In addition, under Section 19 of the Care Act 2014, local authorities have powers to meet urgent needs for care and support without first carrying out a needs assessment or financial assessment.

There is no legal entitlement to reimbursement for care costs incurred prior to a local authority decision.

Individuals who are concerned about delays or decisions may raise these through local authority complaints processes or with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Emergency care

Nuclear Regulatory Review and habitats regulations

Social media for under 16s

Commemorating National Care Leaver’s Month November 2025

Public health campaign on tackling stigma towards suicide