Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the NHS Business Services Authority on extending the duration of Medical Exemption Certificates for those with long-term conditions.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has had no such discussions.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a graduated driving license.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We have had to strike a balance between protecting young people and not overly impacting their opportunities to access work and education and social activities.
Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driver Licensing with further restrictions on newly qualified drivers such as carrying passengers or driving at night, we are consulting on a Minimum Learning Period in England, Scotland, and Wales before learner drivers can take their test.
This would allow learners more time to gain essential experience, for example in different weather conditions, before driving independently and so reduce the risk to themselves and other drivers.
We know that introducing a Minimum Learning Period has potential to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries. This is why we are consulting on the introduction of pre-test measures and combining these with the post-test measures already in place through the New Drivers Act.
The New Drivers Act has a form of “probationary period” of 2 years for novice drivers of all ages in Great Britain. During this time, instead of the standard 12 points, if 6 or more points are received, including in the learning period, a driver's licence is revoked and they must apply again for a provisional licence, re-entering the learning stage.
Additionally, we are considering further post-test measures as part of the motoring offences consultation, where views are being sought on a lower blood alcohol limit for novice drivers in England and Wales.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what evidence her Department considered on graduated driving licenses as part of the Road Safety Strategy; and whether she will publish that evidence.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We used published and publicly available evidence in developing young driver policy in the Road Safety Strategy.
Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driver Licensing with further restrictions on newly qualified drivers such as carrying passengers or driving at night, we are consulting on a Minimum Learning Period in England, Scotland, and Wales before learner drivers can take their test.
We know that introducing a Minimum Learning Period has potential to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries. This is why we are consulting on the introduction of pre-test measures and combining these with the post-test measures already in place through the New Drivers Act.
Additionally, we are considering further post-test measures as part of the motoring offences consultation, where views are being sought on a lower blood alcohol limit for novice drivers in England and Wales.
Once the consultations have concluded, we will publish our responses in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria her Department plans to use to differentiate between small and large farms in assessing eligibility for future SFI applications.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department will publish a precise definition before the first application window opens in June. This is one of the details we’ll be testing with key stakeholders.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Department has taken to monitor the progress of children whose education has been disrupted by long COVID.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on the number of children absent specifically due to long COVID.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. As set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ and ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ guidance, schools and local authorities should work together to ensure that pupils at school with medical conditions, including long COVID, should be properly supported so that they have full access to education.
Both sets of guidance are available here:
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department tracks the number of children whose education has been disrupted by long COVID.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on the number of children absent specifically due to long COVID.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. As set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ and ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ guidance, schools and local authorities should work together to ensure that pupils at school with medical conditions, including long COVID, should be properly supported so that they have full access to education.
Both sets of guidance are available here:
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 47160 on Food: Import Controls, what additional funding has been provided to ports and airports relating to the ban on personal imports of meats and diary products from EU countries.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is currently funding Dover Port Health Authority to help identify illegal meat and dairy imports. We have not provided additional funding to ports and airports relating to the ban on personal imports of certain meat and dairy products from EU countries.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of UK spirits duty rates for the on-trade compared to equivalent rates in (a) Ireland, (b) France, (c) Germany, and (d) other EU member states.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK’s alcohol duty system balances protecting the public finances and promoting health.
There is significant variation in alcohol taxation policy amongst European countries. The World Health Organization recently published a comparison of alcohol taxes across the WHO European Region, which can be found here.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief on Scottish family farms.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
We are striking a fair balance between supporting farmers and fixing the public services on which our rural communities rely.
Our reforms to the Agricultural Property Relief means that the majority of those claiming relief, three quarters, will not be affected. The vast majority of farmers will not be affected at all. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.
This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of spirits duty, business rates, VAT, and employer National Insurance contributions paid by pubs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold readily available data on revenue from spirits duty, VAT, and employer National Insurance contributions paid by pubs.
HMRC does not hold information on business rates which are administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.