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 research his Department has conducted into changes in the number of cases of auto immune disorders since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), has funded several studies which explore links between SARS‑CoV‑2 infection and autoimmunity.
For example, in April 2025, researchers funded by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in respiratory infections at Imperial College published a review on the mechanisms through which autoimmune responses can arise during and after viral infection, focusing on the evidence for B-cell dysregulation and autoantibody production in acute and long COVID.
In 2023, NIHR-supported researchers at the University of Birmingham conducted analysis of United Kingdom primary care records to review the incidence of immune-mediated inflammatory disorders, such as type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis. The NIHR has also commissioned targeted studies to investigate underlying mechanisms. These include The immunologic and virologic determinants of long COVID study, from Cardiff University, which is examining whether SARS‑CoV‑2 infection can trigger persistent immune activation or autoimmune processes in the post-COVID period. Another NIHR-funded project, Immune analysis of long COVID from Imperial College London, is investigating post-COVID immune dysfunction.
NIHR-funded research is published and made publicly available, with findings shared through journals and NIHR Evidence.
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, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of lowering the age of smoking and vaping to 16 year olds on the impact of 16 year olds.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (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: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of National Insurance changes on the closure rate of charities.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN set out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
More widely, the UK tax regime for charities, including the exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world. Tax reliefs for charities and their donors were worth over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2025, of which gift aid made up just over £2.5 billion and business rates relief over £2.7 billion.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Work Capability Assessments were (a) curtailed and (b) closed early in the last year for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold or publish statistics on the number of Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) that have been curtailed or closed early, either over the last five years or in the most recent year for which data is available.
Published statistical releases on Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit WCAs report only on completed assessments and do not include information on curtailed or discontinued assessments.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of lowering the age of driving to 16.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department is not considering lowering the driving age to 16.
Every life lost on our roads is a tragedy and that is especially the case for young people who are disproportionately involved in road collisions.
That is why the Road Safety Strategy focuses on improved education for learner drivers. This includes consulting on a Minimum Learning Period before learner drivers can take their practical driving test. This would allow learners more time to gain essential experience, for example in different weather conditions, before driving independently and reduce the risk to themselves and other drivers.
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, whether UK pets that have an EU pet passport will continue to be able to travel to the EU under that passport, and not require an Animal Health Certificate to do so after 22 April 2026.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Pets leaving Great Britain must comply with the relevant requirements as determined by the country of destination. Defra always advises pet owners to consult with the relevant authorities in the country of destination if any pet travel requirements for movements from Great Britain are unclear.
Defra understands that updated EU rules governing the non‑commercial movement of pets into the EU are scheduled to come into force on 22 April 2026. The EU has yet to publish guidance on how their updated rules will be applied and any relevant transitional arrangements. Defra is actively working to confirm the details of the new requirements with the EU and will update our guidance to pet owners on the relevant documentary requirements once the EU have confirmed their position.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the age for deployable service-personnel to 16.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
All recruitment into the UK military is voluntary and no young person under the age of 18 years may join our Armed Forces unless their application is accompanied by the formal written consent of their parent or guardian. We take the duty of care towards all recruits seriously, in particular those under 18 years of age. We have robust, effective, and independently verified safeguards in place to ensure that under-18s are cared for properly.
Service personnel aged under 18 are not deployed on hostile operations outside the UK or on any operations where they could be exposed to hostilities; we have no plans to change that policy. All new recruits, regardless of age, can discharge within their first three to six months of Service. Our policies on under-18s in Service comply with national and international law. In addition to the comprehensive welfare system that is in place for all Service personnel, we remain fully committed to meeting our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and have taken steps to bestow special safeguards on young people under the age of 18.
Further, the provision of education and training for 16-year-old school leavers not only provides a route into the Armed Forces that complies with Government education policy and offers a significant foundation for development, but it also enables access to training in literacy and numeracy, as well as enrolment in apprenticeships. Ofsted regularly inspects our care of newly joined young recruits, and we are very proud of the standards we achieve.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Work Capability Assessments received Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, Limited Capability for Work and Fit for Work awards in the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department regularly publishes Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment (UC WCA) statistics, with monthly UC WCA decision outcomes, currently available from April 2019 to August 2025, shown in Table 6 of the latest data tables and on Stat-Xplore in the UC WCA Decision Outcomes dataset. The next release, covering decision outcomes to November 2025, is scheduled for 09:30am on 12 March 2026.
The published UC WCA statistics include claimants who have been moved from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) under the Move to UC programme, although such claimants would not have had a new assessment and their previous status under ESA will have been carried over. Consequently, the Stat-Xplore statistics overstate the number of health-related claimants with new Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity and Limited Capability for Work decisions but ESA transitions have been separated out in Table 6 of the data tables.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the potential impact of budget changes to betting and gaming levies on the viability of British sports.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the significant contribution that racing and other sports make to the nation’s economy and sporting landscape. DCMS and HMT Ministers have regular engagement on betting and gaming levies.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to review his decision as outlined in his answer to me within UIN 110638.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As outlined in the previous answer, there are no plans to abolish the House of Lords Appointments Commission.