Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of people with eating disorders who could be treated through intensive community or day treatment services rather than inpatient admission; and whether she plans to increase investment in these services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the High Income Child Benefit Charge on bereaved single parents; and whether he will consider introducing an exemption or other adjustment to the charge for parents who are the sole earner in their household following the death of a spouse or partner.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government recognises the challenges faced by bereaved single parents, including where one person is solely responsible for household income and caring responsibilities.
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will undertake a review of whether serious child sexual abuse prosecutions should be given priority listing where there is evidence that a defendant may become medically unfit to stand trial before proceedings are concluded.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, listing is a judicial responsibility. The judiciary have introduced a new National Listing Framework, implemented through their Practice Direction on Listing in the Criminal Courts which came into effect on 1 October. This framework puts the human impact of delays at the heart of the decisions that the court makes regarding listing. In assessing this impact, the court must have regard to:
The changes mean that all cases involving sexual offending will be prioritised across England and Wales.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has considered introducing additional forms of judicial recognition, formal findings, or symbolic accountability measures in cases where a court has determined that a defendant committed the acts alleged, but a conventional criminal sentence cannot lawfully be imposed.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government agrees that this area of law needs to be updated. The Law Commission reviewed the law on unfitness to plead and the Government has accepted the majority of its recommendations including a modernised legal test, changes to the fact-finding process and wider disposals.
The Government is actively considering how best to take these forward, alongside the defence of insanity, which is also being considered by the Law Commission. This is a complex area of law and it is important that any future reforms are considered carefully to ensure that the legislation is coherent, workable and provides protections for defendants, victims and the public.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the legal framework governing Trials of Fact in recognising proven wrongdoing in cases where a defendant is found unfit to plead.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government agrees that this area of law needs to be updated. The Law Commission reviewed the law on unfitness to plead and the Government has accepted the majority of its recommendations including a modernised legal test, changes to the fact-finding process and wider disposals.
The Government is actively considering how best to take these forward, alongside the defence of insanity, which is also being considered by the Law Commission. This is a complex area of law and it is important that any future reforms are considered carefully to ensure that the legislation is coherent, workable and provides protections for defendants, victims and the public.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) available on the NHS to patients with strongly HER2-positive rare cancers, including metastatic salivary gland cancers, where clinicians consider that the treatment could provide significant clinical benefit; and what steps she is taking to ensure that patients with rare cancers have adequate access to targeted treatments, irrespective of the site of origin of their cancer.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises how important it is that people with rare diseases, including rare cancers, are able to benefit from access to effective new medicines.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, national body that makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on the evidence of their costs and benefits. NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines and if trastuzumab deruxtecan is granted a marketing authorisation for use in the treatment of any rare cancer it would be evaluated by NICE for that indication.
The most up-to-date information on topics that are being developed by NICE is available through the NICE website at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what oversight her Department has of the Student Loans Company's handling of (a) complaints and (b) disputed overpayments; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that (i) customers are provided with an itemised calculation of alleged overpayments, (ii) disputed debts are not referred to third-party debt collection agencies before complaints have been resolved, (iii) complaints and requests for reassessment are not prejudiced by delays attributable to the Student Loans Company and (iv) third parties are not contacted about a customer's debt without an appropriate legal basis.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department oversees the Student Loans Company (SLC) through regular performance monitoring and governance arrangements covering customer service, complaints handling and debt management.
Where the SLC identifies an overpayment, it provides borrowers with information about the amount owed and an opportunity to challenge the assessment or request further information. Complaints and requests for a reassessment are considered in line with the SLC’s established procedures.
The SLC has processes to review disputed cases before further recovery action is pursued and considers relevant circumstances when handling complaints, including where delays have occurred. SLC takes corrective action where errors are identified.
Information relating to a borrower’s account may only be disclosed where there is a lawful basis to do so, and activity involving third parties must be undertaken in accordance with the relevant legal and regulatory framework.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of criminal court delays on survivors of child sexual abuse and other serious sexual offences; and whether his Department plans to introduce measures to reduce delays in such cases.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government is taking decisive action to revive our criminal court system to reduce delays and the impact they have on all victims, including those of child sexual abuse and sexual offences.
We are investing heavily in Crown Court capacity, court infrastructure, uncapped sitting days, technology and legal aid. And we are driving greater efficiency in the courts through measures such as responsible AI innovation, case coordinators for every Crown Court centre, and close collaboration with the judiciary on their reforms to listing practices and virtual hearings guidance.
We have also brought forward structural reforms via the Courts and Tribunals Bill which is currently before Parliament. Measures in the Bill are designed to reduce demand on the Crown Court, protect children and modernise our court system. These measures will mean that more serious cases, including child sexual abuse and other sexual offences, can be heard.
We are delivering a package of measures to ensure that victims of rape and sexual offences experience better, more tailored support and fewer delays. Backed by a £23 million investment, these measures will ensure every single Crown Court building in England and Wales has at least one specialist rape and serious sexual offence courtroom by 2028. Alongside this, we will establish a new Rape Justice Taskforce, chaired by the Lord Chancellor, bringing together leaders from across criminal justice system to directly tackle the rising rate of postponed rape trials and confront the rape myths that cause victims to withdraw from their own cases.
The judiciary has also published a new national listing framework, which makes explicit for the first time that rape and other sexual offence cases, including those involving children, should be prioritised.
We are also taking forward a range of measures to improve the experience of these victims through the criminal justice system. This includes introducing independent legal advisors for adult rape victims, rolling out trauma-informed training to all court staff, and delivering legislative reforms to protect victims, particularly victims of sexual offences, from unnecessary and intrusive cross-examination about their personal lives at court. The Ministry of Justice has also committed £550 million to victim support services over the next three years.
Alongside wider support measures, pre-recorded cross-examination (section 28) can help reduce the impact of delays by enabling victims to give evidence earlier. The Ministry of Justice’s 2025 section 28 impact evaluation found that, between January 2019 and September 2022, the measure reduced the time between an alleged offence and cross-examination by around five months.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will consider measures to improve access to rapid charging for owners of electric vehicles fitted with CHAdeMO charging ports, including minimum connector requirements at charging stations or approved interoperability solutions.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government does not mandate the availability of CHAdeMO connectors at public charge points. However, some charge point operators continue to support them.
The Open Data requirement of Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, which came into effect in November 2024, obliges charge point operators to freely share open data from all public charge points, including the type of connectors available at a charge point. This aims to help consumers to easily and reliably find the charge point and connector that meets their needs.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the equitability of vehicle excise duty rates for zero-emission light goods vehicles used for private, non-commercial purposes; and if he will review the differential between the £360 annual VED rate for electric light goods vehicles and the £200 rate for electric cars, in cases where vehicles are built on the same zero-emission platform, such as the Nissan e-NV200 van and e-NV200 Combi passenger vehicle.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Vans registered after 1 March 2001 are liable to pay the standard vehicle excise duty (VED) rate for light goods vehicles, which is currently £360 per year, including vans which are Euro emission standard 6. The VED regime for vans does not distinguish between commercial and private use.
Cars pay VED according to a range of factors, such as its date of first registration or CO2 emissions.
The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events.