Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will consider extending the validity of driving theory tests from two years to three years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it. It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.
Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on the opening of a humanitarian corridor between Gaza and the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House I made on 5 January, and to the joint statement issued by the Foreign Secretary and several of her counterparts on 30 December, available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jointstatementon-the-gaza-humanitarian-response.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on access to Gaza for a) Palestinian doctors and b) international doctors.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House I made on 5 January, and to the joint statement issued by the Foreign Secretary and several of her counterparts on 30 December, available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jointstatementon-the-gaza-humanitarian-response.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's proposed timeline is for banning cages in relation to hens and pigs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recently published Animal Welfare Strategy sets out that ending the use of cages and crates is a key priority for this Government.
We are currently consulting on a proposed timeline to ban the instalment of new enriched ‘colony’ cages for the keeping of laying hens and any other caged systems used for pullets and breeder layers from 2027 and the use of existing cages from 2032.
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy we will be consulting on pig farrowing crates and a proposed timeline for the transition away from the use of farrowing crates to alternative systems: either flexible or free farrowing.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason the CAA cannot release occurrence information on pilot fatigue events.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (“MOR”) Regulations mean that the Civil Aviation Authority can only use information from MORs for the purpose for which they have been collected. The CAA does not make any information from MORs available. The CAA only uses information from MORs to maintain or improve aviation safety, not to attribute blame or liability.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of pilot fatigue have been reported to the Civil Aviation Authority in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Where a fatigue issue may have led to a safety incident, the UK CAA's Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR) scheme requires that operators send a report to the UK CAA. However, these reports can only be used to improve aviation safety, and the CAA cannot release occurrence information on pilot fatigue events.
The risk of flight crew fatigue is managed under regulations which limit the number of hours pilots can be on duty over a given period of time. The CAA monitors and oversees UK Airlines’ management of flight time to ensure that airlines have appropriate and effective systems in place to manage fatigue.
Although the UK CAA do interact with the HSE on matters of mutual interest, it should be noted that the HSE has no remit in regard to the FTL (Flight Time Limitations) regulations.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many occasions in the last year the Health and Safety Executive has discussed the issue of pilot fatigue with the Civil Aviation Authority.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Where a fatigue issue may have led to a safety incident, the UK CAA's Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR) scheme requires that operators send a report to the UK CAA. However, these reports can only be used to improve aviation safety, and the CAA cannot release occurrence information on pilot fatigue events.
The risk of flight crew fatigue is managed under regulations which limit the number of hours pilots can be on duty over a given period of time. The CAA monitors and oversees UK Airlines’ management of flight time to ensure that airlines have appropriate and effective systems in place to manage fatigue.
Although the UK CAA do interact with the HSE on matters of mutual interest, it should be noted that the HSE has no remit in regard to the FTL (Flight Time Limitations) regulations.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if she will outline the steps and decision-making criteria for awarding the Army Collective Training Service contract.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Collective Training Transformation Programme (CTTP) will deliver the new Army Collective Training Service (ACTS) through a competitive process under Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations (DSPCR) 2011.
Prospective suppliers first completed a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and then two rounds of tendering. The final bids of the two remaining prospective suppliers have been assessed on technical (performance, collaborative behaviours, social value, Land Industrial Strategy), commercial (terms and conditions), and financial criteria. The highest-scoring bid will win.
In November 2025 I announced that a decision would be announced in February 2026. I have agreed that the programme team can release the results of the competition in January 2026 leading to an announcement in February 2026 of an initial Early Works and Risk Reduction contract with the preferred tenderer.
Once the preferred bidder is chosen and the Defence Investment Plan is published, the programme will submit a Full Business Case in line with normal Government Major Projects Portfolio process before a decision to award the main ACTS contract will be made which is expected later in the summer.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is planning a further allocation of funding to support grassroots football in Scotland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK benefit from high-quality sport facilities to help enable people to get active. The Government has committed at least £400 million to be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years across the UK.
Funding is subject to departmental business planning processes which are ongoing. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's Mass Atrocity Prevention Hub for supporting the UK’s response to the situation in El Fasher, Darfur.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Mass Atrocity Hub is now part of The Conflict and Atrocity Prevention Department, which has been working closely with the Africa Directorate and British Office Sudan since April 2023. Support has included assessing the risk of atrocities in Sudan, providing analytical capabilities to collect, verify and preserve open-source data relating to potential atrocity crimes and violations of international humanitarian law, as well as technical advisory support on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's atrocity prevention and response workstreams.