Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle post-separation economic abuse.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
I recognise the devastating impact financial and economic abuse can have on victims, even after they have separated from an abusive partner. We continue to work closely with and fund Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA), which supports victims of economic and financial abuse - offering specialist advice to victims via the Financial Support Line in partnership with Money Advice Plus, training financial services providers, and rolling out the Economic Abuse Evidence Form to ensure victims only have to tell their story once. We are committed to working across Government, and with stakeholders, to prevent economic abuse and improve our response to it when it does arise as part of the wider mission to halve VAWG within a decade.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing carers to receive covid-19 vaccinations on the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:
The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
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 making people with less than 12 months to live to automatically eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government remains completely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.
Linking Winter Fuel eligibility to Pension Credit and other means tested benefits for pensioners, ensures the least well-off pensioners still receive the help they need; this includes people with a terminal illness who are eligible. There are no plans to change the eligibility criteria.
To ensure that Winter Fuel Payments are received by those on the lowest incomes, the Government is determined to do everything it can to maximise take-up of Pension Credit which provides a safety net for the pensioners on the lowest incomes and opens the door to other benefits including the Winter Fuel Payment.
For disabled pensioners or those with long-term health conditions, the “extra costs” disability benefits, including those provided for by the Scottish Government, provide a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs people with a long-term health condition can face, such as additional heating costs. They are paid in addition to any other benefits received.
The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment and without serving waiting periods – and, in most cases, they receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and have now been changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department uses to determine which Personal Independence Payment recipients need to have a regular work capability assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Personal Independence Payment is available to people with a long-term health condition or disability regardless of whether they are in work, training or education or not. As such, the PIP assessment looks at an individual’s ability to carry out a series of key everyday activities which are fundamental to living an independent life, such as their ability to prepare, cook and eat food, dress and undress, make budgeting decisions, manage and monitor their health condition, engage with other people, and plan and follow journeys.
The PIP assessment does not look at an individual’s capacity to undertake work or work-related activity. This is the purpose of the Work Capability Assessment which determines eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance and the additional health-related amount of Universal Credit.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has with international allies on the provision of arms and resources to Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Secretary of State for Defence regularly holds discussions with international partners on how to best support Ukraine, including at the recent NATO Defence Ministers meeting. This includes regular discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart.
At the last Ukraine Defence Contact Group in September, Allies committed to continue their support for Ukraine, both in the immediate fight and for the long term.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the vulnerabilities that children experience in relation to climate change are (a) acknowledged and (b) addressed in Nationally Determined Contributions.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK is committed to supporting the most vulnerable, including children, who are experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis, and working together with partners to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
For example, through UK support to the NDC Partnership, the global coalition for coordinating support for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), we will enable up to 40 countries to strengthen the ambition, quality and investability of their NDCs ahead of COP30. The NDC Partnership is committed to supporting a country-driven process to advance youth engagement in NDC implementation.
The UK has just launched its own new, ambitious 1.5C-aligned 2035 NDC. The Government has consulted with civil society and youth groups to advance the policies on which our NDC target is based.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that mobile network providers maintain (a) reliable coverage and (b) service quality in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage. That is why our ambition is for all populated areas, including rural areas, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of 2025 through the Shared Rural Network programme.
Ofcom is responsible for measuring and reporting on mobile network coverage. Far too often the data published by Ofcom does not match consumers’ experience of using mobile networks. I recently wrote to Ofcom asking them to set out steps to improve their mobile coverage reporting.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a mental health absence code for children with (a) autism and (b) other neurodivergent conditions who are unable to attend school due to mental health crises; and what steps her Department is taking to help support these pupils.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the department’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity. Poor mental health and inadequate access to support are real challenges facing children today and have a detrimental impact on their school attendance, reinforcing barriers to opportunity.
The ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ statutory guidance promotes a 'support first' approach, encouraging schools, trusts and local authorities to work with families to address attendance barriers. This guidance can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf.
The department is committed to providing access to a specialist mental health professional in every school so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. We will also deliver Young Futures Hubs, providing every community with an open-access hub for children and young people. In addition, we are conducting an expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review to ensure that every child has access to a curriculum that is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative and supports their future life and work.
Illness, both physical and mental health related, is marked using the I code in the register. The department does not think that requiring schools to determine whether illness is mental or physical would be practically workable, given that schools cannot and should not diagnose a pupil’s illness.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support businesses in rural areas.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas, so that we can realise the full potential of rural business and communities.
Rural Rate Relief aims to ensure that key amenities are available, and community assets protected in rural areas. It provides 100% rate relief for properties that are based in eligible rural areas with populations below 3,000.
The specific challenges and opportunities that make rural economies distinctive can be harnessed through funds such as the Rural England Prosperity Fund, which will provide up to £110 million in targeted support to rural businesses and communities in England between April 2023 and March 2025.
We know farmers require stability, which is why we are committed to Environmental Land Management schemes and will optimise schemes in an orderly way, ensuring they produce the right outcomes for all farmers, while delivering food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way. We will also support farmers by offering a new deal, including cutting energy prices by setting up GB Energy, ensuring future trade deals are fairer for British farmers, and procuring more British produce in Government.
Spending on rural businesses and farming in future financial years will be confirmed as part of the Government’s spending review.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support wine importers with additional administrative requirements following the ending of the temporary easement to the implementation of the new alcohol duty system in February 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In August 2023 the Government introduced reforms to alcohol duty so that products are taxed in proportion to their alcoholic strength, not volume.
To help the wine industry adapt to the new duty system, the current, temporary duty easement was introduced as a transitional measure, which was intended to allow time for wine producers to adapt to calculating duty based on alcohol by volume.
By the planned end-date of 31 January 2025, the wine industry will have had over two years to adapt to the new strength-based system.