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 impact of the change in banks' policies on block management accounts on people who own apartment buildings.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is aware of ongoing action taken by some banks to restrict their services in respect of pooled client accounts, which may include block management accounts. We understand the difficulties this can cause for those whose accounts have been closed as a result.
The Government is considering changes to the regulations in this area, in order to improve access to pooled client accounts for the businesses which depend on them. Proposals on this issue formed part of the recent consultation on Improving the Effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations. The Government is reviewing responses to this consultation and will respond in due course.
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, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of planning applications without clear necessity on the boundaries of national parks on those areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has made no such assessment. Impacts of development on National Parks are assessed by local planning authorities.
National Park authorities are the local planning authority within the National Park and are a statutory consultee for planning applications where development comes forward which is likely to affect a National Park.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of sentencing guidelines for banned drivers causing harm to (a) children, (b) animals and (c) other vulnerable road users; and whether she plans to review those guidelines.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Driving offences have widespread impact on our communities and can have devastating consequences for victims, their families and their friends. The Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority.
Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. The guidelines produced provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is. The Sentencing Council also recently published revised guidelines which consolidate existing legislation around banned drivers. These will come into effect next month, on 1 April 2025.
The Department for Transport is committed to delivering a new Road Safety Strategy – the first in over a decade. They will set out next steps on this in due course.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of introducing free bus passes for people aged 60 and over.
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, such as lowering the age of eligibility, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.
Local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations such as lowering the age of eligibility. Additional local concessions are provided and funded by local authorities from local resources.
The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Devon County Council and Somerset Council have been allocated £11.6 and £6.8 million of this funding respectively. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services for passengers can be used in whichever way they wish. This could include extending the discretionary concessions available in the local area.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many tonnes of (a) illegal and (b) banned products of animal origin (POAO) have been seized at the Port of Dover since September 2022.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Please see the table below for total seizures of illegal meat year on year. The figures quoted are seizures from all ports who had returned seizure data to us from September 2022 onwards as part of Defra African Swine Fever programme. This does not reflect all illegal meat seizures.
We are unable to provide further levels of detail as we do not release details of the location of seizure; this information could risk undermining border security, by providing intelligence in our resource deployment and targeting
Total seizures for full year on year are as follows:
2022 (Sept-Dec) | 3745kg |
2023 | 44,482kg |
2024 | 92,270kg |
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to purchase essential textbooks.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Overall core revenue funding for schools totals almost £61.6 billion this financial year, 2024/25. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26.
These increases, against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrate the government’s commitment to schools and ensuring every child can achieve and thrive through its commitment to the Opportunity Mission.
Schools have autonomy over how they use their core funding, including for their non-staff costs such as textbooks. The department will continue to monitor the balance of funding and costs for schools.
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 his Department is taking to tackle disparities in length of periods of poor health between (a) people in Somerset and (b) the national average.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with life expectancy varying widely across and within communities. The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain by tackling the structural inequalities that contribute to poor health, particularly for disadvantaged groups.
The population health priorities in the South West focus on improving population health outcomes and reducing health inequalities and health disparities for inclusion groups. This includes increasing the detection and treatment of people with hypertension, improving the uptake of health checks, increasing the number of people supported to stop smoking, improving the support to people at risk of self-harming, and increasing the number of people affected by long term sickness who are supported back into employment.
The Somerset local authority received £23.1 million in Public Health Grant funding in 2024/25. This provides services such as stop smoking, drug and alcohol treatment, health visiting and school nursing, sexual health, and NHS Health Checks among others, all of which contribute to addressing health inequalities.
In the South West region, assurance and support for inequalities and inclusion is led by the regional health inequalities team, who work as a blended team across both NHS England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and who collaborate with national and integrated care system colleagues, including the Directors of Public Health within the region. The health inequalities team supports systems to accelerate the narrowing of gaps in population health outcomes relating to specific South West priorities, and supports the national Core20PLUS5 approach and the implementation of the digital inclusion framework.
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 his Department is taking to support people with postural tachycardia syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving health outcomes for people who live with long-term conditions, including postural tachycardia syndrome, is a key part of the Government's mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of long-term conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. NICE has produced a clinical knowledge summary on the clinical management of blackouts and syncope, which sets out how clinicians should assess and diagnose postural tachycardia syndrome. This was last updated in November 2023 and is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their population. The Government expects ICBs to take account of NICE guidelines and other best practice in designing their local services.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the right to roam in England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government committed in its manifesto to improving responsible access to nature. The Department is currently assessing the best way to deliver this, and further information will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund a permanent initiative.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26025.