Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he intends to publish the document entitled Pathways Trial for GnRHa - Guidance for CYPGS Clinicians.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A document entitled PATHWAYS TRIAL for Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Analogues (GnRHa) – Guidance for CYPGS clinicians is referenced in the published research protocol for the PATHWAYS study of puberty suppression. The Department does not hold a copy this document and would not expect to hold it, and therefore has no plans to publish it.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she will take to promote increased awareness of the 2022 changes to the Highway Code.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Injuries and fatalities from road collisions caused by driving are unacceptable, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users.
That is why on 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all.
Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022, the department ran large-scale THINK! advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the changes.
Via the THINK! campaign, we are also running year-round radio filler adverts encouraging compliance with the guidance to improve safety for those walking, cycling and horse riding. We will also continue to promote the changes via THINK! and Department for Transport social media channels, as well as through partner organisations.
However, as set out in the strategy, more work is needed to continue embedding these changes and overall awareness of the Highway Code. We are considering options in this area, and further details will be shared in due course.
As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety. As announced in the strategy to support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK, the government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity. Alongside this, the government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what evaluation his Department has made of the need to ensure that planned reforms to the leasehold system address the matter of leaseholders struggling to sell share-of-freehold properties because of historic but dormant ground rent escalation clauses.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to addressing unregulated and unaffordable ground rents and we will do this in legislation. We will set out further details on our detailed plans for existing ground rents in due course.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by when her Department expects to complete its ongoing work to to provide a remedy for those members of the Police Pension Scheme who opted out of, and are now left unable to opt back into, the 1987 pension scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises concerns that the current legislation does not fully deliver the intended remedy for a small cohort of members who opted out of the police pension scheme and are now unable to return to their original scheme.
This is a complex issue and officials in the Home Office and HM Treasury are exploring solutions through the existing McCloud remedy compensation framework and amendments to scheme regulations. The aim is to provide a remedy for the small number of affected members as soon as possible once a suitable solution has been identified.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 ensure that NHS staff are not able to falsely certify documents later used in applications for a Mental Health Breathing Space.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space can only be started if an Approved Mental Health Professional confirms that the individual is receiving mental health crisis treatment. The debt adviser must also seek confirmation from a nominated point of contact every 30 days that the individual is still receiving eligible mental health crisis treatment in order for the individual to continue to receive the moratorium’s protections.
With regard to National Health Service staff, regulators set standards of conduct that regulated health professionals must uphold. These already emphasise the importance of good record keeping. Falsifying patient records could be considered serious misconduct and may lead to a professional's registration being restricted or revoked.
We continue to keep the Breathing Space Scheme under review to ensure it is operating as intended.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on the number of UK firms utilising preferential tariff rates under the UK–Australia Free Trade Agreement.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade does not centrally hold any data on the number of UK firms utilising preferential tariff rates under the UK–Australia Free Trade Agreement.
The Department holds data on the UK’s utilisation of tariff preferences for imports and exports under preferential trade agreements. However, this data only contains value of trade flows using different import regimes and no information related to firms.
Between June 2023 and December 2024, 65% of eligible goods imports into Australia from the UK made use of an FTA tariff preference and 77% of eligible goods imports into the UK from Australia made use of FTA tariff preferences.
Source: Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee Statement - GOV.UK
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the time taken by UK firms to complete export documentation compared with firms in other OECD countries.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Estimates of the administrative burden of import and export declarations for trade between Great Britain and the European Union are published at the following link: Estimating the customs administrative burden of 2022 declarations - GOV.UK.
No direct comparisons are available with other OECD countries due to the limited amount of information published.
HMRC is committed to making customs processes as simple as possible while ensuring effective checks are in place at the border, and we continue to work closely with the border industry to streamline processes and support the flow of legitimate goods.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the UK’s ability to conclude mutual recognition agreements for professional qualifications with priority trade partners.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to improving recognition of professional qualifications with key trading partners. The Government is actively encouraging and supporting the UK’s regulators through guidance on recognition arrangements and targeted funding, to work with their overseas counterparts. This has led to mutual recognition agreements in high value sectors, such as for audit qualifications with Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the capacity of the UK’s digital trade infrastructure to support increased trade volumes predicted for the next decade.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Trade Strategy committed the UK to remaining at the forefront of harnessing technology to make the most of the opportunities of digital trade. In addition to negotiating FTA chapters, we are developing the policy infrastructure for digital trade through a programme of digital trade agreements. We are also piloting Digital Trade Corridors with key European markets to improve industry adoption of digital trade processes. The Government is also working with business and international partners to ensure we have the right infrastructure to support trade, exploring further customs digitalisation, and the potential for modernising the way businesses interact with customs.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 UK participation in the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The WTO Agreement on E Commernce (ECA) is the first global digital trade agreement that will make trade faster, cheaper, fairer, and more secure. The UK is an active and supportive participant of the Joint Statement Initiative on E-commerce (JSI). In July 2024, following five years of JSI negotiations, the UK joined the resulting plurilateral WTO Agreement on Electronic Commerce (ECA) as a founding Member, alongside 70 other countries. The number of participants to the Agreement has now risen to 72. The UK is working closely with other WTO Members to give legal effect to the ECA as soon as possible.