Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her department is taking to ensure telecommunications providers take responsibility for preventing scam calling.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Tackling fraud is a priority for this Government. We are working closely with industry, and on 5 November 2025 published the second Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter. This includes actions to help strengthen trust in voice communications particularly the spoofing of UK numbers and by improving security, traceability and reliability of calls.
On 9 March, the Home Office published its new Fraud Strategy which sets out how the Government will work with all partners, including law enforcement and industry, to make the UK a much harder place for criminals to operate. As part of the Strategy, we are establishing a new Online Crime Centre. From April 2026 the police, GCHQ, banks, telecommunications and tech firms will work in one place to drive the response to online fraud.
Government also works closely with Ofcom, the independent regulator, who have a duty to protect consumers and to ensure that UK numbers are not misused. Ofcom has made several changes in recent years to help reduce scams, including since January 2025 Ofcom has required operators to block scam calls from abroad which present as a UK numbers.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has considered (a) introducing statutory Council Tax relief for properties made uninhabitable by severe weather, natural disasters and climate-related events and (b) compensating local authorities for the cost of providing such relief during periods of severe weather and natural disaster.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Valuation Office Agency is the organisation responsible for determining whether a property is liable for council tax. Council tax is due on all domestic properties, whether they are occupied or not. However, a property may be removed from the council tax list, and no longer liable for council tax, where it has been fully demolished, is truly derelict or undergoing major renovations.
The council tax system contains a range of discounts and exemptions to reflect personal circumstances. The government’s Plain English Guide to Council Tax sets out the support available in the system. Furthermore, councils have the discretionary power to provide their own discounts where they consider this appropriate.
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 steps his Department is taking to improve the accessibility and clarity of NHS information for patients navigating care pathways across primary and secondary care.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) was published on 1 July 2025 and can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/accessible-information-standard/
The revised standard requires those staff in relevant communication and information roles to be adequately trained. The AIS conformance criteria, published in 2016 and updated in June 2025, set out how organisations should comply with the AIS.
NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS to ensure that staff and organisations in the National Health Service are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.
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 steps is his Department taking to help ensure that patients who cannot access digital services are still able to obtain timely updates on referrals and care pathways.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must ensure all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate against patients or staff.
This means that although we promote digital first services to those who choose to use them, a non-digital solution should be available for patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally to ensure continued, equitable access to care.
These non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.
NHS England’s guidance makes clear that services must continue to provide updates through non‑digital routes, including phone, letters, and face‑to‑face contact. The Accessible Information Standard also requires NHS bodies to give information in formats that meet individual needs. These arrangements ensure patients who cannot use digital tools still receive timely updates about their referrals and care.
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 steps her Department is taking to address the postcode lottery in NHS mental health support for bereaved parents following pregnancy or baby loss; and whether she will commit to issuing national standards for Integrated Care Boards to ensure all bereaved parents, including fathers and partners, can access specialist psychological support.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that the experience of losing a baby or pregnancy loss can be very difficult for parents and families.
Maternal Mental Health Services are available in all integrated care board areas in England and provide care for women with moderate, severe, or complex mental health difficulties arising from baby loss.
Additionally, all NHS England trusts have signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway, which acts as a set of standards and guidance aimed at ensuring all families, including fathers and partners, receive consistent, individualised, and sensitive care.
Fathers and partners can receive evidence-based assessment and support through Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services. Where partners may have a need for mental health support but is not a moderate or severe mental health condition, it is important they can be signposted to other forms of support through their general practice and NHS Talking Therapies.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase opportunities for skilled volunteers with repair and re-use expertise to help to reduce (a) waste and (b) public spending on repairs.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy which will present an opportunity to create a more inclusive economy, building shared social and economic value for citizens, businesses and communities. The Government recognises that repair and reuse are fundamental tenets of any circular economy, and acknowledges the important role that skilled volunteers and community repair groups play in supporting repair and re‑use and in helping reduce waste. This will be considered within Defra’s forthcoming Circular Economy Growth Plan, which will outline how we will support the transition to a more circular economy.
Volunteering and social action are a cornerstone of society, with more than half of England’s adult population volunteering at least once a year. In recognition of volunteering's vital role in communities, the Government is investing in a new open data infrastructure to make it easier for volunteers to find opportunities that align with their skills, expertise and routines. The Department is also supporting The Big Help Out 2026, which aims to make volunteering opportunities more accessible and inspire new volunteers.
From 1 April 2026, the government will introduce a new VAT relief for businesses that donate goods to charities. This will help boost the supply of essential items to charities, enabling them to reach the people and communities who need them most. It will also make it easier for businesses to give surplus stock a second life, reducing waste and landfill.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of public liability insurance requirements on volunteering opportunities for volunteers with repair and re-use expertise.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is committed to supporting volunteers, who play a vital role in supporting charities, strengthening communities, delivering services and driving positive change in local areas.
Organisations have a dual responsibility to protect volunteers from harm and to secure indemnity against third-party claims arising from volunteer activities. While public liability insurance is a decision for individual organisations, the Charity Commission advises charities to provide volunteers with the same insurance protections as employees, extending standard Employers’ Liability and Public Liability policies to cover them.
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 steps her Department is taking to address regional disparities in NHS mental health support for bereaved parents following pregnancy or baby loss; and if she will issue national standards for Integrated Care Boards to ensure all bereaved parents, including fathers and partners, can access specialist psychological support.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that the experience of losing a baby or pregnancy loss can be very difficult for parents and families.
Mental health services are available in all areas of England for women who experience mental health difficulties during, or due to, their pregnancy, labour, or birth, including Maternal Mental Health Services that specialise in supporting women who have experienced loss.
Additionally, all NHS England trusts have signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP), which acts as a set of standard and guidance aimed at ensuring all families, including fathers and partners, receive consistent, individualised, and sensitive care. NHS England is working closely with the baby loss charity Sands to agree what steps are necessary to support a faster and more consistent implementation so that all women and families, no matter where they are, receive the support they need at such a difficult time.
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 assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the pathways used by other Common Travel Area countries to enable qualified medical professionals from outside the EEA to practise medicine; and what steps he is taking to reduce barriers to registration for qualified international medical graduates.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the potential policy implications of the pathways used by other Common Travel Area countries to enable qualified medical professionals from outside the European Economic Area to practise medicine in the United Kingdom.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the UK. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to determine routes to registration and the qualifications that it will accept for registration.
In 2023, the Department amended the GMC’s legislation to provide greater flexibility to streamline the process for registering overseas-qualified medical professionals. Following these changes, the GMC introduced new specialist registration routes, including the Recognised Specialist Qualification pathway, which was launched on 15 May 2024. This enables the GMC to formally recognise suitable specialist qualifications from overseas for the purposes of UK Specialist and General Practitioner registration.
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 estimate his Department has made of the number of additional fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs required in England to restore the GP-to-patient ratio to 2015 levels.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of patients per full time equivalent (FTE) fully qualified general practitioner (GP) was 1,938 in September 2015 compared to 2,133 in January 2026, including GPs employed by primary care networks. To reach the same number of patients per fully qualified GP today, we would need an additional 3,012 FTE GPs. However, the GP workforce has changed significantly since 2015 with a wider range of professionals working in GPs. There’s currently an additional 38,265 FTE direct patient care staff working in primary care, including nurses, physiotherapists, and pharmacists.
Thanks to actions taken by the Government, we currently have the highest number of fully qualified GPs since 2015, and steps are being taken to grow the GP workforce further.
As part of the 2026/27 GP Contract, we are increasing the flexibility of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) by removing the restriction that ARRS funding can only be used for recently qualified GPs, increasing the maximum reimbursement amount for GP roles to reflect experience, and enabling primary care networks to recruit a broader range of ARRS roles, where agreed with the commissioner.
Following feedback from the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation, we are introducing a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme which ring-fences and repurposes £292 million of funding from the current Capacity and Access Payment. This funding will be available to practices to hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions with existing GPs to improve access in GPs. This aims to strengthen capacity, access, and improve patient satisfaction, whilst also addressing GP unemployment and underemployment.