Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed welfare reforms on people with bipolar disorder.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As I made clear in my statement to the House, Hansard, 1 July, col 219, any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading, and which will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
In relation to Universal Credit changes, existing claimants at the point of change in April 2026 will continue to receive at least the same amount of benefit as under the current rules, if there are no changes in their circumstances. For future claimants we are not able to assess the impact of the changes at this level as the readily available data on health conditions is not sufficiently detailed.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that a proportion of new build homes are adapted to be accessible to people with physical disabilities.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 53184 on 27 May 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to ensure that a proportion of shared ownership homes are adapted to be accessible to those with physical disabilities.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 53184 on 27 May 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in the bus fare cap on (a) small businesses and (b) workers in rural areas.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government recognises the importance of affordable public transport in keeping people connected and ensuring they can access their local towns.
On 1 January, the government introduced a £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London until 31 December 2025. As part of the Spending Review, the government announced further funding to extend the £3 cap to March 2027. This will ensure millions of people, including those in rural areas, can continue to access affordable bus fares and better opportunities all over the country.
If the government had not taken action, the bus fare cap would have ended and fares would have jumped back up to their previous levels on 1 January which could have meant fares soaring above £10 on the most expensive routes.
The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap was published on 12 February. An evaluation of the £3 fare cap is due to be commissioned shortly.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of night flights on the health of people living underneath airport flight paths.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department seeks to minimise the impact of aviation on people’s health, in the context of other government priorities. My officials are in regular contact on this issue with other government departments and their agencies, including the Department of Health and Social Care sponsored UK Health Security Agency.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the fatigue life of components of Hammersmith Bridge.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My officials are in regular contact with their counterparts at both the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Transport for London regarding the condition of Hammersmith Bridge and options for repair.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of reductions to the Official Development Aid on (a) the VSO and (b) other British companies with a significant presence in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used are being worked through as part of the ongoing allocations process following the Spending Review. This will be based on various factors, including impact assessments.
We are working out how our partnership with Voluntary Service Overseas should evolve in line with our new approach to civil society funding which will support the sustainability of international organisations and their partners in developing countries, enabling them to become more self-sustaining and resilient in the future.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have been monitoring the impact of budget reductions on all our suppliers. We will continue to monitor the impact as spending decisions are made. Staff across the FCDO have been given guidance on the importance of engaging with our suppliers to manage the pivot in ODA programming responsibly if scaling down or exiting programmes.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with regards to her Department's White Paper on Restoring control over the immigration system, published 12 May, if she will publish further information on how changes to the (a) standard qualifying period for settlement to 10 years will affect people already in the UK, (b) pathway to settlement will affect non-UK dependants and (c) qualifying period base on Points-Based contributions will affect applicants.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We will reform our settlement and citizenship rules by expanding the Points-Based System and increasing the standard qualifying period for settlement to ten years.
Individuals will have the opportunity to reduce the qualifying period to settlement and citizenship based on contributions to the UK economy and society.
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's White paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, on British National (0verseas) Visa holders.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route was launched on 31 January 2021 in response to China’s passing of the National Security Law. The route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.
Further details of all measures announced in the Immigration White Paper will be set out in the normal way in due course, and where necessary, will be subject to consultation.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's statutory guidance entitled Working Together to Safeguard Children, updated 8 May 2025, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including adoptive parents.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance is multi-agency guidance that sets out the help, support and protection available to all children and their families. Where the guidance refers to parents, this includes adoptive parents. The guidance was updated in 2023 with a focus on strengthening multi-agency working across the whole system of help, support and protection, maintaining a child focus within a whole family approach to help and support and embedding strong, effective multi-agency child protection practice.
The department is committed to reviewing the ‘Working together to safeguard children’ guidance every year. On 8 May 2025, we published an illustrated version of the guidance for children, young people and their families which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2.