Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department received communications from Ministers (a) regarding representations from Peter Mandelson about policy matters in their departments and (b) expressing concerns about such communications between 10 February 2025 and 11 September 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1st June, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The documents published in the first and second tranches contain the entirety of the documents the Government has available for disclosure, except those being withheld at the request of the Metropolitan police.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department received communications from Ministers (a) regarding representations from Peter Mandelson about policy matters in their departments and (b) expressing concerns about such communications between 4 July 2024 and 10 February 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1st June, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The documents published in the first and second tranches contain the entirety of the documents the Government has available for disclosure, except those being withheld at the request of the Metropolitan police.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps were taken to help mitigate potential conflicts of interest arising from Lord Mandelson's commercial interests before she took up the post of Ambassador to the United States.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As has been made clear in documents that were published in the Government's response to the Humble Address, on 1 June 2026, measures were put in place to manage Peter Mandelson's declared conflicts of interest. As was also made clear in the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister's statement to the House on the same day, some documents relevant to the Humble Address have been withheld at the request of the police.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Appendix H of her Department's document entitled Blue Badge scheme local authority guidance (England), updated on 3 June 2025, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the model proforma for seeking further information from health and social care professionals in supporting applications from people with non-visible and hidden disabilities, including deafness; and when the proforma was last reviewed.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The model proforma was last reviewed in 2019 following the changes to the eligibility criteria.
The Department works with the Blue Badge Digital Service supplier and with local authorities to help improve the service for all applications from people with non-visible and hidden disabilities.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness the Blue Badge application process for people with non-visible or hidden disabilities, including deafness.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The model proforma was last reviewed in 2019 following the changes to the eligibility criteria.
The Department works with the Blue Badge Digital Service supplier and with local authorities to help improve the service for all applications from people with non-visible and hidden disabilities.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that emergency applications for grants of probate are processed promptly; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of staffing levels at the Probate Service on the processing time for emergency applications.
Answered by Catherine Atkinson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service has invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling in order to improve the processing time for applications and to ensure outstanding caseload does not increase.
Service users can indicate that their application is urgent either at submission or at a later stage and operational teams have processes in place promptly to review such applications.
The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) complexity and (b) length of the Disability Living Allowance claim form on claimants; and whether he plans to amend the form.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Disability Living Allowance claim form is under regular review to ensure that it is as easy to understand as possible, and that the information collected is complete. Recently, work has been undertaken to improve the legibility of the claim form. This has included rewording some questions, strengthening the guidance in notes and advice sheets as well as providing additional clarity on the information required.
The questions within the claim form ensure the Department has a clear understanding of the difficulties the child faces in everyday life, in order that DWP decision makers can make a clear and informed decision based in law. Other questions in the form safeguard and protect the public purse and reduce fraud and error.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that road safety interventions can be targeted at locations with high numbers of damage-only collisions and near-misses before a (a) killed and (b) seriously injured outcome occurs.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Local authorities have a statutory duty under section 39 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act to take steps both to reduce and prevent collisions. It is not for the Department to take steps to define local interventions but for local authorities to determine what measures are appropriate in individual cases as they have the local knowledge and it is right that they focus on the areas of highest risk, which may be where tragic collisions have occurred - but there is nothing to stop them implementing road safety measures elsewhere.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England and relevant Integrated Care Boards on the funding of specialist orthotist posts required to deliver vacuum bell therapy at NHS pectus and chest wall surgical centres; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact on patient care of surgical services being available but non-surgical alternatives being unavailable.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The factors that determine whether a service is a prescribed specialised service are: the number of individuals who require the service; the cost of providing the service or facility; and the number of people able to provide the service or facility.
Vacuum bell therapy for pectus excavatum is not designated as a prescribed specialised service. Non surgical management of pectus excavatum is considered a pathway based intervention better managed through local medical pathways. Responsibility for commissioning therefore sits with integrated care boards (ICBs) rather than NHS England or the Department. There are no current plans to change this approach.
NHS England will continue to encourage ICBs to prioritise commissioning non surgical medical treatments for patients with pectus excavatum as part of an integrated pathway. In addition, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department is funding the RESTORE trial, which will inform future commissioning decisions in relation to surgery. More information on the RESTORE trial is available at the following link:
https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR158749
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason NHS England has designated vacuum bell therapy for pectus excavatum as the responsibility of Integrated Care Boards rather than including it within the specialised commissioning arrangements that cover surgical correction of pectus excavatum; and whether his Department plans to review that designation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The factors that determine whether a service is a prescribed specialised service are: the number of individuals who require the service; the cost of providing the service or facility; and the number of people able to provide the service or facility.
Vacuum bell therapy for pectus excavatum is not designated as a prescribed specialised service. Non surgical management of pectus excavatum is considered a pathway based intervention better managed through local medical pathways. Responsibility for commissioning therefore sits with integrated care boards (ICBs) rather than NHS England or the Department. There are no current plans to change this approach.
NHS England will continue to encourage ICBs to prioritise commissioning non surgical medical treatments for patients with pectus excavatum as part of an integrated pathway. In addition, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department is funding the RESTORE trial, which will inform future commissioning decisions in relation to surgery. More information on the RESTORE trial is available at the following link:
https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR158749