Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 25004 on Infected Blood Compensation Scheme: Hepatitis, what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of funding for compensation for the affected families of people with hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In the Autumn budget, the Government announced £11.8 billion of funding to compensate eligible infected and affected people. Each eligible person will get the compensation they are due.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she has taken to review the effectiveness of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme for facilitating the travel of wheelchair users to education and work.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations would need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability. The Department has conducted a review of the ENCTS and we are considering next steps.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the Child Maintenance Service to (a) increase protections for the victims of domestic abuse and (b) to prevent the withholding or artificial reduction of child maintenance payments being used as a form of economic abuse.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A consultation on proposed reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included:
This follows the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving royal assent in July 2023. The consultation was extended by this Government at the end of July and ran until 30 September 2024. We are currently analysing the responses we have received, and the Government will publish a response in due course.
CMS Domestic Abuse training has been updated with input from external stakeholders and wider DWP to ensure caseworkers recognise and respond safely and appropriately to customers who are experiencing domestic abuse or are survivors of domestic abuse. This package includes an understanding of abuse, including economic abuse, and, of course, given the context, covers post separation abuse.
The CMS will use its strong enforcement powers to pursue those who willfully avoid their financial obligations to their children. Cases involving complex income can be investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU). This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions (such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies) to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses which export bicycles.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Under the umbrella of the recently announced Business Growth Service, UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises an online support offer and a wider network of support including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, the International Markets network and one-to-one support from International Trade Advisers.
This support is available to all UK businesses including those that sell and wish to export bicycles.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the condition of the UK cycling industry.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No formal assessment has been completed; however, the Department has engaged with key industry brands on issues and will continue to do so moving forward. The industry has recently faced significant headwinds, impacting growth and profitability. Despite this, the industry is stabilising with some retailers reporting positive financial performance. There are signs of recovery and potential growth in key high-demand areas such as Road, Gravel, and Electric Mountain Bikes.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a third runway at Heathrow on the UK's carbon budget.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and meeting our carbon budget obligations, as set out in the Climate Change Act. Making Britain a clean energy superpower and delivering greener transport, including aviation, is a Department for Transport priority.
We have been clear that any airport expansion proposals will need to demonstrate they contribute to economic growth and can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments, as well as meeting strict air quality and noise standards.
The government will set out detail on plans for meeting legislated carbon budgets later this year.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what reforms to disability benefits she plans to introduce in 2025; when each reform will be implemented; and whether she plans to publish any further consultations on planned reforms.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible.
We are working to develop proposals for health and disability reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement. This will launch a public consultation on the proposals. This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals, where appropriate, with disabled people and representative organisations.