Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the number of arms-length bodies across Government departments has increased since July 2024.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Since July 2024, 10 Arms Length Bodies have been announced to deliver the manifesto the Government was elected on. In conjunction with this, the government is conducting a comprehensive review of the entire ALB landscape, as announced on 6 April 2025, this has already made progress with announcements of the closure of Building Digital UK and LocatED amongst others. This aims to streamline the state and increase ministerial accountability, a vital step toward creating a more productive and agile state.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 help increase physiotherapy employment opportunities for the cohort graduating in 2026.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on the employment of newly qualified physiotherapists are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve the transition into the workforce.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 impact of levels of availability of entry-level physiotherapy roles on musculoskeletal waiting lists.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on the recruitment of physiotherapists are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
To tackle waiting times, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Musculoskeletal Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to further reduce musculoskeletal community waiting times, which are the largest volume of all community waits, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. This includes mapping and analysing the provision and role of physiotherapists as First Contact Practitioners in primary care.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 ensure that newly qualified physiotherapists are able to access Band 5 employment opportunities within the NHS, in the context of recruitment freezes and recent trends in the level of advertised posts across England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on the recruitment and employment of newly qualified physiotherapists are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve transition into the workforce.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support physiotherapists that qualified last year into employment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on the employment of newly qualified physiotherapists are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve the transition into the workforce.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of abolishing the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor and the Government are committed to the independence of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), and to its role at the heart of economic and fiscal policy making.Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of abolishing the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to abolish the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that organisations that hold licenses to use animals in science provide those animals with access to food and water; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the sanction given to people who fail to provide access to food and water.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
All licensed establishments must fully uphold the required standards for animal welfare as set out in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) and the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes. This includes clear duties on ensuring animals have access to food and water.
The Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) audits establishments to assure compliance with these requirements and takes any potential non-compliance very seriously.
Where incidents relating to access to food or water have occurred, ASRU has investigated them in line with its published Compliance Policy Framework, which sets out how potential non-compliance is identified, investigated, and addressed (www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-testing-and-research-compliance-with-aspa).
All cases are thoroughly investigated and ASRU applies the most suitable remedy based on the severity of the incident. A broad range of sanctions are available, and outcomes are published in ASRU’s Annual Report to support learning and ensure transparency. Through consistent delivery of the compliance policy the Regulator aims to drive up standards of welfare.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to review the requirement for platforms to implement client-side scanning and other automated content analysis tools under the Online Safety Act 2023 in the context of the scanning of private cloud storage and encrypted communications.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act does not require platforms to implement client-side scanning or other automated content analysis tools on content communicated privately. The Act states that Ofcom may not recommend the use of proactive technology, such as client-side scanning, to analyse user-generated content communicated privately.
This means that Ofcom’s codes cannot recommend that service providers deploy proactive technology in private or encrypted communications. The Department has no plans to review this section of the Act.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 representatives of the agricultural sector on the potential impact of proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief on the number of farm estates in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government regularly and actively engages with representatives from the farming industry through regular meetings and discussions, ensuring we listen to their views, understand their concerns, and take their feedback into account.
At the November 2025 budget, the Chancellor announced that any unused allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners from 6 April 2026. The Government has taken this action after listening to feedback from stakeholders, who have called strongly for this change to the planned reforms to reduce complexity and remove an unfairness for widows/widowers.