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 his Department has made of the adequacy of Bereavement Support Payment for widows and widowers raising dependent children; and what steps he is taking to provide longer-term support for widows and widowers who are raising bereaved children following the end of Bereavement Support Payment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) aims to provide support during the acute period following a bereavement by way of an initial lump sum followed by up to 18 monthly instalments with a higher amount paid for those with children. Where longer-term financial support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been specifically designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs. The Government keeps the eligibility of all benefits under review.
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 his Department has made of the adequacy of access to employability programmes for neurodivergent young people; and whether he has considered further adjustments to support their participation.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s ambition is to transform young people’s prospects, by ensuring every one of them has the chance to earn or learn through a Youth Guarantee, as we announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper. Specific additional support for young disabled people and young people with health conditions will be available through Pathways to Work.
We have already launched 8 Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England which are testing innovative approaches to identify and deliver localised support to young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET. As part of their place-based approach, MSAs have developed their approaches with consideration to young people in their locality who need more support and several are offering targeted support for young people with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities.
We have also launched an Independent Report into Young People and Work, to identify potential areas for reform to better support young people with health conditions and disabilities.
As part of the Youth Guarantee, we are breaking the cycle of unemployment by guaranteeing paid work for every eligible 18–21-year-old who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months.
The Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment, for 25 hours a week, at the relevant minimum wage, with the government covering 100% of employment costs. It will also provide wraparound support for young people to further develop the required skills and experience needed for the move into sustained employment. Appropriate safeguards will be built into the scheme to ensure that opportunities are high quality, fair and deliver the intended outcomes for young people.
Alongside this, in Pathways to Work we are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions, regardless of age, on out of work benefits. This guarantee will be backed by £1 billion a year of funding by the end of the decade.
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 his Department has made of the potential impact of minimum qualification requirements on access to apprenticeships for young people not in education, employment or training; and what steps she is taking to ensure that access to apprenticeships is expanded to young people (a) with barriers to attainment and (b) who have not met minimum qualification requirements.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Young people are not required to hold GCSE qualifications in English and/or maths before starting an apprenticeship.
Apprentices under the age of 19 are funded to achieve up to a level 2 qualification in English and/or maths (where they do not already hold one) before the end of their apprenticeship, putting them in the best position to progress in their life and career. This can be a GCSE or functional skills qualification.
Further flexibility is in place for apprentices with a learning difficulty and/or disability, where there is evidence this is likely to be a barrier to them completing their apprenticeship. In these cases, they are able to achieve an entry level 3 functional skills qualification to complete. Since August 2024, this flexibility has been available to apprentices with a learning difficulty and/or disability but without an Education Health and Care Plan.
Although apprenticeships are jobs with training, and employers set their own entry requirements, we encourage them to consider a wide group of applicants. To support removing barriers to entry for young people, we are clear to employers that we will fund apprentices without English and maths GCSEs to achieve these qualifications.
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 she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to funding for leadership and management apprenticeships on progression opportunities in the retail sector.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, backed by an additional £725 million of investment, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers, more opportunities for young people and support the industrial strategy.
We have been working intensively with business on the next stages of reform and will announce plans for the development of the Growth and Skills Levy soon.
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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision for the early diagnosis of liver disease by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board; and what steps his Department is taking to support that Integrated Care Board to improve early identification and treatment.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Locally, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) is implementing the NHS Long Term Plan’s commitments on earlier diagnosis of liver diseases. This includes expanding access to non-invasive testing in primary care and community diagnostic centres delivering liver function tests and fibroscans in community environments. The ICB is also promoting consistent use of risk stratification tools, improving care navigation into specialist hepatology services via advice and guidance, and strengthening data infrastructure so systems can better target those at highest risk.
Nationally, NHS England has commenced a programme of work on the transformation of liver services led by the Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Clinical Reference Group (HPB CRG). The HPB CRG is working with partners to co-produce resources to raise public knowledge and awareness of all forms of liver disease.
The HPB CRG is also aiming to improve the early diagnosis and intervention through developing evidence-based best-practice pathways for both primary care and referral to secondary care services.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the potential impacts of fuel supply disruption arising from surges in demand.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is closely monitoring fuel supply and demand in light of the situation in the Middle East. The UK benefits from strong and diverse security of fuel supplies and we are engaging with industry to ensure supply and demand remains resilient.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to reduce UK exposure to potential global LNG market volatility, after the suspension of LNG production by QatarEnergy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK benefits from a wide variety of gas supply sources, including the UK Continental Shelf, pipeline imports from reliable partners like Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as significant LNG import capability. This limits our reliance on any one source of supply.
The Department is working closely with key industry partners, like National Gas, the transmission system operator, to ensure adequate supply during this period of global disruption, and we are confident that this diverse supply portfolio will continue to meet the country’s energy needs, just as in previous geopolitical events.
Ultimately the best way to retain our energy security and protect billpayers permanently is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels, reducing our reliance on natural gas and moving towards home-grown clean energy. That is why making Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 is one of the Prime Minister’s five missions, with the biggest investment in home-grown clean energy in British history.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support businesses with their operating costs.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are committed to reducing operating costs for all UK businesses, including those in Eastleigh and across Hampshire.
We are reducing the annual administrative burden of regulation by £5.6bn by 2029, enabling UK businesses to unlock growth and boost innovation.
Introducing e-invoicing will also increase efficiency and streamline tax administration.
Tackling late payments will give the UK the strongest legal framework in the G7, intending to legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows. We will publish our response to the late payment consultation setting out the measures we will take forward.
In addition, we are protecting full apprenticeship funding and extending it up to under 25s reducing administrative barriers further.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of barriers to entry on UK small and medium-sized enterprises in competitive public procurement processes.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.
The Procurement Act (PA23) sets, for the first time, a duty for contracting authorities to have regard to the particular barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to consider what can be done to reduce or remove them. Initial trends show that the proportion of PA23 tender lots with a planning, tender, transparency or dynamic markets notice tagged as suitable for SMEs has increased to around two thirds of all requirements.
To continue to build on this positive trend, this Government has also published a new, more ambitious, National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).
We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.
We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 2G and 3G mobile network switch-off on individuals who rely on simplified or accessibility-focused mobile handsets that do not support Wi-Fi Calling; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that vulnerable users are not digitally excluded.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The 3G switch-off in the UK was completed early 2026. We understand that this was a smooth process, and Ofcom and the mobile operators have reported no significant negative impacts on consumers.
The 2G switch-off will take place between 2029 and 2033. Ofcom have reported in its Connected Nations 2025 report that there are around 2 million 2G-only mobile users remaining (including 2G-only accessible handsets).
Government is working with the industry to ensure that 2G-only mobile customers are upgraded to 4G and/or 5G devices that support voice calls before 2G is switched off. This includes ensuring that customers are given sufficient notice by their operator to upgrade their devices, and vulnerable consumers are offered additional support where needed.
The Department is also assessing what the impact of the 2G switch-off will be on other use cases across critical sectors through cross-government and sector engagement.