Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) Health and Safety Executive regulations on the interaction between walkers and cattle and (b) how those regulations are communicated to (i) farmers and (ii) the public.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Health and safety legislation places a duty on farmers to manage the risk to the public from cattle as far as it is reasonable to do so.
The nature of modern health and safety legislation is largely goalsetting, rather than prescriptive. This is important for workplaces such as farms where measures that may be reasonable to control risk from cattle on one farm, may not be reasonable on another farm for a variety of reasons.
The legal duty on the farmer under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) is to manage their cattle herd so the animals within it present a low level of risk to members of the public using fields with public access. Farmers should take all measures that are reasonably practicable to control or reduce risk.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides free published guidance to assist farmers in their duties. Guidance sheets AIS17EW (and AIS17S in Scotland) set out the hierarchy of control measures that farmers are expected to consider and, where possible implement.
HSE works closely with key industry stakeholders such as Britain’s Farm Safety Partnerships in a variety of ways to raise awareness within the farming community of their legal duties when considering keeping cattle in fields with public access.
As part of its work to communicate the legal requirements on farmers to members of the public, it has in a number of its media communications and press releases regarding cattle, also drawn attention to The Countryside Code - GOV.UK. This guidance produced by Natural England is aimed at members of the public and provides them with information on how to stay safe in the countryside.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle delays in processing re-applications to the DVLA following the voluntarily surrender of driving licences on medical grounds.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. Driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer. This is because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.
The DVLA continues to make improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions and is currently rolling out a new casework system. This is expected to deliver significant improvements to the handling of medical cases, support growing customer demand and helping to reduce processing times.
To help reduce the time taken to deal with medical applications, the DVLA has introduced a simplified licence renewal process for some medical conditions. This has reduced the need for further information from medical professionals, enabling more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver.
Those applying for a driving licence after previously surrendering it voluntarily may be able to drive while their application is being processed, providing they can meet specific criteria. More information on this can be found online at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1180997/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.pdf.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending VAT exemption to include essential (a) day care and (b) respite services for people with (i) dementia and (ii) other permanent disabilities.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Supplies of welfare services, including the provision of care for people with permanent disabilities and dementia, are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities.
When developing policy, including on VAT on welfare services, the Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing any of the nine protected characteristics, including disability, age, sex and race, in line with its statutory obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty set out in the Equality Act 2010.
More generally, VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 reduce the amount paid by his Department in clinical negligence costs.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs and how we can improve patients’ experiences of clinical negligence claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to allocate funding to the Great South West Partnership after April 2026.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following a four week public consultation, in March 2025 the government announced its intention to end funding for Pan-Regional Partnerships, with an exceptional, time-limited award of £281,250 for the Great South West Pan-Regional Partnership for the 2025/26 financial year.
Pan-Regional Partnerships, including the Great South West, have made a valuable contribution, supporting collaboration between local authorities and government and taking forward a breadth of work on shared growth opportunities. However, as our English Devolution White Paper sets out, we are now moving to a different model of regional collaboration, where we are keen to support new models driven by local leaders.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned switchover from landlines to digital technologies by January 2027 on rural households without broadband.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers. No formal assessment has been made of the impact of the PSTN migration on rural households without broadband. In order to function correctly, VoIP requires a minimum connection speed of just 0.5Mbps, meaning that a broadband connection will not be required.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 European counterparts on collective sanctions against Russia.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Exerting maximum economic pressure on Russia is a central part of our support for Ukraine, and our best tool to force Putin to de-escalate the war and engage in meaningful talks. The UK continues to lead international efforts, including coordination with our European and US partners. Together, we have sanctioned major Russian oil companies, including Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, and sanctioned over 500 Russian shadow fleet vessels.Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners have lost entitlement to Pension Credit as a result of their calculated entitlement being short by 50p or less.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department does not hold information about the total income and circumstances of all pensioners.
That is why we ask people to apply for pension credit rather than being able to make awards automatically.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the level of funding available for demand responsive transport and (b) introducing bus concessions for people up to the age of 22.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government knows how important affordable and reliable bus services are in enabling people to access education, work and vital services, and we are committed to delivering better bus services, including in rural areas right across the country.
As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government allocated over £1 billion to support and improve bus services in 2025/26 and keep fares affordable. This includes £712 million for local authorities that can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Devon County Council and Somerset Council have been allocated £11.6 million and £6.8 million of this funding respectively. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, including introducing or expanding demand responsive transport provision in the area, or measures to reduce fares for young people.
The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in this Spending Review, confirming additional funding per year from 2026/27 to maintain and improve bus services, including taking forward franchising pilots and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the size of the backlog on Valuation Office Agency decisions.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is working as quickly as possible to clear cases, and moving staff to where there is the greatest customer demand. The VOA is focusing on the oldest cases first, and where customers are facing financial hardship.
The VOA is replacing IT systems with modern cloud-based platforms that will deliver significant efficiencies. It is also upskilling its workforce to ensure there is flexibility in managing a wide range of cases and improving its digital services to make it easier for customers to self-serve.