Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will exempt hospitality businesses from the business rates surcharge.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to apply a higher multiplier from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties - those with rateable values 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.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's changes to employers' National Insurance Contributions on trends in the level of employment in the hospitality sector.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.
With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029.
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the Personal Independence Payment assessment process for people living with bipolar disorder.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is based on the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability and not on a particular disability or diagnosis such as bipolar disorder. Health conditions may be physical, sensory, mental, intellectual or cognitive, or any combination of these, and the assessment takes a comprehensive approach to disability, reflecting the needs arising from the full range of conditions.
Health Professionals conducting PIP assessments are trained specialists in disability analysis. All HPs receive specific training on assessing the effects of mental health conditions and are supported by Mental Health Function Champions (MHFCs). MHFCs are experienced professionals with relevant expertise in mental health, cognitive, developmental, and learning disabilities. They are available to provide advice and support throughout the assessment process. Additionally, HPs have access to Condition Insight Reports and Continuing Professional Development guides. These resources offer detailed clinical and functional information on a range of conditions, including Bipolar, to support HPs in delivering informed assessments.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will conduct a review of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that concerns have been raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Ministers are currently considering a number of options for reforming the scheme. In parallel, the Department has been working with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the scheme, to take steps to improve the VDPS by modernising operations, and processing claims at a faster rate.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to HIV support services for people affected by HIV.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030 and is developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address ways to optimise rapid access to treatment and retention in care, and will improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, including consideration of peer support services.
A key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus.
NHS England is responsible for delivering HIV care, including support services for those living with HIV. In April 2024, it published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which sets out the standards of care that HIV providers are expected to meet, including the availability of community, psychological, and psychosocial support for patients.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the funding into Parkinson's Disease research.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government responsibility for delivering Parkinson’s disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.
Between the financial years 2019/20 and 2023/24, the Government spent a total of £79.1 million on research into Parkinson’s disease. Research spend is calculated retrospectively, with a time lag due to annual reporting lapses, and so 2023/24 is the most recent financial year we have data for.
As well as funding research itself, the NIHR invests significantly into research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England. Collectively this forms NIHR infrastructure. NIHR infrastructure enables the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research into Parkinson’s disease. For example, in the financial year 2022/23, the NIHR Clinical Research Network enabled 114 studies related to Parkinson’s disease to be conducted in the National Health Service.
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including Parkinson’s disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Welcoming applications on Parkinson's disease to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has conducted an impact assessment for the decision to extend cervical screening intervals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to change the cervical screening intervals from three to five years for women aged 25 to 49 years old was made in 2019. The evidence and consultation responses supporting the recommendation can be found at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/
The decision to make the changes was based on what is best for individuals. The more accurate human papillomavirus test requires less frequent screening, and changing the frequency eliminates the unnecessary over screening of the population.
The IT system supporting the national cervical screening programme was updated in July 2024, and can now enable the changes that were recommended.
A full impact assessment and equality impact assessment were considered before the changes were agreed by the Government. We will publish these shortly.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the decision to remove The Gardens Trust as a statuatory consultee on planning applications that may affect a site nationally designated on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement 10th March (HCWS510), the government intends to consult on the impacts of removing statutory consultee status from a limited number of bodies, including The Gardens Trust.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 reduce waiting lists for gynaecology services (a) nationally and (b) in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the end of April 2025, the gynaecology waiting list was down 15,955 since the end of June 2024. Waits for gynaecology services have also decreased by 1,052 in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) over the same period.
However, we know there is more to do across gynaecology services, which is why we’ve committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029.
As our first step in achieving this, we have already exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered 3.6 million more.
Gynaecology is one of the specialities serviced by surgical hubs, which are part of the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) High Volume Low Complexity programme, which aims to increase capacity and transform the ways that gynaecology and other services are provided. There are currently 116 elective surgical hubs nationally, three of which are in the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ICB, and there is one additional hub planned.
We are also taking action to support general practitioners and hospital doctors to work more effectively together to ensure patients are always seen in the right setting, through use of Advice and Guidance. The GIRFT programme has recently published a series of advice and guidance templates specifically for gynaecology.
Women’s health hubs bring together healthcare professionals and existing services to provide integrated women’s health services in the community, centred on meeting women’s needs across their life course. Women’s health hubs have a key role to play in shifting care out of hospitals and in reducing gynaecology waiting lists.
The Government is committed to encouraging ICBs to further expand the coverage of women’s health hubs and to supporting ICBs to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women, including in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 expand audiology testing capacity.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services, including for audiology.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this Parliament. The plan commits to transforming and expanding diagnostic services and to speeding up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the referral to treatment 18-week standard.
NHS England is supporting provider organisations and integrated care boards, who are the commissioners of audiology services, to improve performance and reduce waiting lists. This includes capital investment to upgrade audiology facilities in NHS trusts, expanding audiology testing capacity via community diagnostic centres, and direct support through a national audiology improvement collaborative. The latest management information data shows that community diagnostic centres have delivered over 56,000 audiology assessments since July 2021.
The 2025 Spending Review confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years across new diagnostic, elective, and urgent care capacity. Further details and allocations will be set out in due course.