Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 30 March 2026 to WPQ 122758, if his Department will publish a list of all the (a) professional and (b) clinical criteria which staff will need to meet in order to triage in the Elective Single Point of Access Model.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Amanda Doyle, the National Director for Primary Care and Community Services, wrote to general practices and primary care networks regarding the introduction of elective Single Point of Access (SPoA) in April 2026. The letter clarified that under this model, requests for specialist advice and referrals are to be clinically reviewed by a named consultant.

Where a local SPoA model is already in place or is established by local agreement between primary and secondary care, provided there is clear accountability and oversight from a named consultant, this may continue.

The letter also sets out the expectations for consultants and general practitioners, as well as operational standards under a SPoA model. A general practitioner’s clinical decision to refer and existing professional and legal accountabilities remain unchanged.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 30 March 2026 to WPQ 122758, whether his Department will stipulate who should be triaging in the Elective Single Point of Access Model.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Amanda Doyle, the National Director for Primary Care and Community Services, wrote to general practices and primary care networks regarding the introduction of elective Single Point of Access (SPoA) in April 2026. The letter clarified that under this model, requests for specialist advice and referrals are to be clinically reviewed by a named consultant.

Where a local SPoA model is already in place or is established by local agreement between primary and secondary care, provided there is clear accountability and oversight from a named consultant, this may continue.

The letter also sets out the expectations for consultants and general practitioners, as well as operational standards under a SPoA model. A general practitioner’s clinical decision to refer and existing professional and legal accountabilities remain unchanged.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with EU on the implementation of Animal Health Certificates for pets travelling abroad.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

On 22 April the EU brought in new rules affecting those travelling with their pets from third countries such as Great Britain into the EU. Defra officials have engaged with the European Commission to understand how they are being implemented, and how this impacts those travelling from Great Britain to the EU. Updated guidance is now available on GOV.UK, and any future updates will be published on the relevant pages.

As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area. Instead of the current process of getting an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) each time they travel, pet owners will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for travel to the EU. Until an agreement with the EU is reached, owners will still need an AHC for their dog, cat or ferret(s) if they are travelling from GB (England, Wales and Scotland) to an EU country.

Animal Health Certificates are issued by Official Veterinarians in Great Britain. Fees are set by veterinary surgeons or veterinary practices and are a private matter between individual practices and their clients and neither the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the UK regulator of the veterinary profession, nor Defra intervene in the level of fees that are charged.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Animal Health Certificates on the cost of taking pets abroad.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

On 22 April the EU brought in new rules affecting those travelling with their pets from third countries such as Great Britain into the EU. Defra officials have engaged with the European Commission to understand how they are being implemented, and how this impacts those travelling from Great Britain to the EU. Updated guidance is now available on GOV.UK, and any future updates will be published on the relevant pages.

As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area. Instead of the current process of getting an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) each time they travel, pet owners will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for travel to the EU. Until an agreement with the EU is reached, owners will still need an AHC for their dog, cat or ferret(s) if they are travelling from GB (England, Wales and Scotland) to an EU country.

Animal Health Certificates are issued by Official Veterinarians in Great Britain. Fees are set by veterinary surgeons or veterinary practices and are a private matter between individual practices and their clients and neither the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the UK regulator of the veterinary profession, nor Defra intervene in the level of fees that are charged.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with veterinary associations on trends in the number of vets who can issue Animal Health Certificates for pet owners taking their pets abroad.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra regularly engages with veterinary associations on a range of issues, including animal health certification. Prior to the recent EU changes to pet travel requirements, the Department contacted relevant stakeholders, including the British Veterinary Association, the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to notify them about the changes.

Data on the number of Official Veterinarians able to issue Animal Health Certificates is held by Improve International, the training provider responsible for OV qualifications on behalf of the Animal and Plant Health Agency, available at: Official Veterinarian Training.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Education on the adequacy of levels of support available in mainstream education environments to young people with a physical disability but without a diagnosis of a learning disability.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government is committed to working with local authorities and education settings to ensure that all children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), receive the support they need to thrive in mainstream education. Schools are expected to use their best endeavours to identify and support pupils’ needs, regardless of diagnosis, and to review the adequacy of support through the graduated approach set out in the SEND Code of Practice, which involves assessing needs and regularly reviewing support to ensure it remains effective.

Settings also have clear duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled pupils are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to peers, and we are strengthening guidance to support settings to apply these duties.

We are investing £1.6 billion through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund to support earlier intervention, alongside at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025/2026 and 2029/2030 to expand inclusion bases, improve accessibility and create additional special school places for complex needs. We will also develop National Inclusion Standards to support educators to meet pupils’ needs.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will conduct an assessment of the current pressures facing the DVSA to manage ADI tests to ensure that a candidate can complete the process before the expiry of their theory test certificate.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has seen unprecedented numbers of applications from people wishing to become approved driving instructors (ADI) - a 152% increase since 2018-19. Alongside this, the pass rate for the part 3 test has declined, from 33.8% in 2023/24 to 27.7% in 2025/26. Demand for qualifying tests (known as part 2 and 3 tests) is therefore exceptionally high, leading to high waiting times for these tests. DVSA recognises the time constraints this may place on trainee driving instructors and their understandable frustration.

DVSA operates a “book to hold” service, which enables trainees to make an application for either the part 2 or part 3 test even when no test slots are immediately available. This helps DVSA to understand when and where demand is highest, so that they can allocate examiner resource effectively, prioritising those closest to the end of the two-year expiry period where appropriate. As long as an application for the part 3 test is made before the end of the expiry period, the part 3 test itself can be completed after it.

DVSA has recruited, and continues to recruit, additional ADI examiners and has increased its capacity to train new examiners.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what conversations she is having with the DVSA about the pressures faced by the DVSA booking system to manage new and repeated attempts to pass the ADI Part 3 test.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has seen unprecedented numbers of applications from people wishing to become approved driving instructors (ADI) - a 152% increase since 2018-19. Alongside this, the pass rate for the part 3 test has declined, from 33.8% in 2023/24 to 27.7% in 2025/26. Demand for qualifying tests (known as part 2 and 3 tests) is therefore exceptionally high, leading to high waiting times for these tests. DVSA recognises the time constraints this may place on trainee driving instructors and their understandable frustration.

DVSA operates a “book to hold” service, which enables trainees to make an application for either the part 2 or part 3 test even when no test slots are immediately available. This helps DVSA to understand when and where demand is highest, so that they can allocate examiner resource effectively, prioritising those closest to the end of the two-year expiry period where appropriate. As long as an application for the part 3 test is made before the end of the expiry period, the part 3 test itself can be completed after it.

DVSA has recruited, and continues to recruit, additional ADI examiners and has increased its capacity to train new examiners.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what conversations she is having with the DVSA to support the recruitment of additional examiners in the Advanced Driving Instructor team.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has seen unprecedented numbers of applications from people wishing to become approved driving instructors (ADI) - a 152% increase since 2018-19. Alongside this, the pass rate for the part 3 test has declined, from 33.8% in 2023/24 to 27.7% in 2025/26. Demand for qualifying tests (known as part 2 and 3 tests) is therefore exceptionally high, leading to high waiting times for these tests. DVSA recognises the time constraints this may place on trainee driving instructors and their understandable frustration.

DVSA operates a “book to hold” service, which enables trainees to make an application for either the part 2 or part 3 test even when no test slots are immediately available. This helps DVSA to understand when and where demand is highest, so that they can allocate examiner resource effectively, prioritising those closest to the end of the two-year expiry period where appropriate. As long as an application for the part 3 test is made before the end of the expiry period, the part 3 test itself can be completed after it.

DVSA has recruited, and continues to recruit, additional ADI examiners and has increased its capacity to train new examiners.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will assess the potential impact of postponing the proposed increase in fuel duty on the farming community.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced on 20 May, to support farmers, the government will cut the duty rate on red diesel by over a third per litre from 10.18p to 6.48p, the lowest rate in over 20 years. This lower rate will take effect from 15 June and remain in place until the end of the year.

This is on top of extending the temporary duty cut for red diesel until the end of the year, a proportionate percentage cut of the wider 5p cut to the main duty rates on petrol and diesel.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department held discussions with stakeholders prior to NHS England's decision to cease central funding for the EMIS Web Dispensing Module from 1 April 2026.

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

NHS England spends approximately £750,000 annually funding the EMIS Web dispensing module. NHS England will work with relevant bodies, including the Department, to develop a longer-term approach regarding the way dispensing is funded, in advance of the expiry of the 12-month extension NHS England has put in place.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has NHS England allocated to the EMIS Web Dispensing Module in 2026/27.

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

NHS England spends approximately £750,000 annually funding the EMIS Web dispensing module. NHS England will work with relevant bodies, including the Department, to develop a longer-term approach regarding the way dispensing is funded, in advance of the expiry of the 12-month extension NHS England has put in place.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she will have conversations with the Social Media companies about trends in the levels of blocked content across their platforms, about the use of IPEDs and SARMs.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Secretary of State engages regularly with Ofcom and industry, including social media companies, on how they are fulfilling their duties under the Online Safety Act, including in relation to illegal content and emerging harms.

The Act places clear duties on platforms to prevent their services being used to facilitate the sale of illegal drugs and to remove such content when it does appear, including content promoting controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Platforms must also protect children from harmful content, including material encouraging the use of physically harmful substances such as unregulated medicines, through proportionate, risk-based measures.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to promote the Fuel Finder scheme to Motorists.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is promoting Fuel Finder primarily by making fuel price data openly available to third parties, allowing it to be incorporated directly into motorists’ commonly used apps and services.

Ministers have promoted Fuel Finder including references in speeches and through social media, highlighting the scheme’s benefits to motorists. Other communications on Fuel Finder have been delivered through the Department for Energy Security’s social channels and a factsheet published on GOV.UK.

Further communications are planned for later in the year to support continued awareness of Fuel Finder data.

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 Royal College of General Practitioners' report entitled Tackling the GP workload crisis, published in April 2026.

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

We welcome the findings from the Royal College of General Practitioners’ report on ‘Tackling the GP workload crisis’. Many of the recommendations align closely with our ongoing commitment to fixing the front door of the National Health Service by cutting red tape and ensuring general practitioners (GPs) can spend more time treating patients.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our commitment to delivering the recommendations of the Red Tape Challenge, including making improvements at the interface between primary and secondary care. These recommendations also highlight our ambition to improve customer service and experience through better patient communication, support and navigation, as well as strengthening underpinning infrastructure.

The report also mentions simplifying incentives such as the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF), which for the 2025/26 GP contract year, was streamlined significantly, with 32 out of the 76 indicators retired to reduce administrative burden for practices. For the 2026/27 GP contract year, the QOF remains streamlined with 43 indicators.

We are continuing to work across government to better understand where additional burdens are being placed on general practice and, where possible, to remove unnecessary requirements and improve ways of working.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a national advertising strategy to promote the Fuel Finder scheme to Motorists.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is promoting Fuel Finder primarily by making fuel price data openly available to third parties, allowing it to be incorporated directly into motorists’ commonly used apps and services.

Ministers have promoted Fuel Finder including references in speeches and through social media, highlighting the scheme’s benefits to motorists. Other communications on Fuel Finder have been delivered through the Department for Energy Security’s social channels and a factsheet published on GOV.UK.

Further communications are planned for later in the year to support continued awareness of Fuel Finder data.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 22 April 2026 to Question 125262, what his planned timetable is for publishing the amount that each children and young people's hospice will receive in the 2026-27 financial year.

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

The Department does not hold a centrally consolidated breakdown of allocations to individual children and young people’s hospice, and so is therefore not able to publish this information.

NHS England has informed all integrated care boards (ICBs) of their allocations for the children and young people’s hospices in their footprint for 2026/27, amounting to circa £27 million in total for England.

NHS England has made clear that this funding is to be distributed by ICBs to eligible children and young people’s hospices and is not intended for reallocation to other services. To support this process, NHS England has also established an assurance process with clear steps and timelines, including regular oversight with ICBs, regional teams and hospices. Where ICBs are unable to meet the deadline, this is escalated to NHS England to ensure timely distribution.

A similar total allocation, adjusted for pay inflation, will be made available in each of the subsequent two years (2027/28 and 2028/29). Communications regarding future allocations will be sent once the 2026/27 process is complete.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 22 April 2026 to Question 125262, for what reason the Department is not yet in a position to share those individual allocations publicly.

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

The Department does not hold a centrally consolidated breakdown of allocations to individual children and young people’s hospices, and so is therefore not able to publish this information.

In line with the established arrangements, integrated care boards (ICBs) administer this funding to individual hospices on behalf of NHS England. This approach is consistent with National Health Service devolution, promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population.

NHS England has made clear that this funding is to be distributed by ICBs to eligible children and young people’s hospices and is not intended for reallocation to other services. To support this process, NHS England has also established an assurance process with clear steps and timelines, including regular oversight with ICBs, regional teams and hospices. Where ICBs are unable to meet the deadline, this is escalated to NHS England to ensure timely distribution.