Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an estimate of the average cost difference between smart meter and flatline bills.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Smart meters help households to manage their energy use and reduce bills by enabling suppliers to bill them for their actual, rather than estimated, energy use.
Households with additional low carbon technology can also save on their energy bills by switching to tariffs that are enabled by smart meters with rates designed to incentivise flexible energy use. For example, an EV driver could potentially save £330 annually by smart charging overnight.
Households with heat pumps could also save over £250 annually by shifting to a smart tariff and using their heat pump flexibly to pre-heat their homes during cheaper periods.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what are the average cost differences between smart water meter bills and flatline bills.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Customers can be charged for water and sewerage through either the rateable value (unmetered) or via metered volume. Smart meters automatically monitor water usage, enabling water companies and customers to receive more regular data on water consumption. Smart metering offers an opportunity for customers to save money on their bills through identifying water wastage through leaks. Whilst the impacts on bills depend on individual circumstances and customer billing plans, the 2024 Baringa report on smart water metering showed that moving from unmetered charging to a ‘dumb’ meter can reduce water consumption by 12–15% and transitioning directly to smart meters can lead to reductions of up to 17%.
Customers may wish to contact the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) for additional support and advice on getting a smart meter installed and the impacts this could have on their bills. Customers can use the CCW water meter calculator, to assess any potential bill savings they could make if they installed a smart water meter.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to support the Music and Dance Scheme Schools that face financial challenges.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Richmond Park to the answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 111332.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that children from non-privileged backgrounds continue to have access to music and dance training, including through supporting the Music and Dance Scheme Schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Richmond Park to the answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 111332.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to provide long-term funding certainty for schools supported by the Music and Dance Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Richmond Park to the answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 111332.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with Transport for London on the distribution of the structure fund for repairs and renovations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is currently seeking views from key stakeholders, including Transport for London, on how best to design and deliver the Structures Fund.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2026 to Question 107739, if he will clarify what productivity and effectiveness service improvements are used with the assistance of AI.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is used across a number of Home Office services to support productivity, improve effectiveness, and enhance service delivery. In immigration operations, we have developed bespoke tools for specific teams to improve the asylum decision making process, with the pilot suggesting that up to an hour can be saved per case when reviewing interview transcripts and searching for country policy information.
AI is also used in other business areas to support productivity and effectiveness, as set out in the response to UIN 73677.
The Home Office continues to introduce AI-enabled tools, including the rollout of Microsoft Copilot to assist in routine administrative tasks, help summarise information, and improve search and analysis. We will continue to explore the appropriate and responsible use of AI to enhance effectiveness and strengthen the delivery of our services.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 impact of Think Pharmacy First campaign on helping to encourage people use pharmacies for treatment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Pharmacy First advertising campaign has now been run on several occasions. Data collected from the campaign run from November to December 2024 showed an increase in public knowledge that pharmacies can treat ‘Pharmacy First’ conditions, from 71% to 79%, and trust in the advice given by the pharmacy team increased from 61% to 70%. Public intention to use the pharmacy if they experienced any of the Pharmacy First conditions increased from 32% to 37%.
This positive shift in people’s attitudes is reflected through an increased use of the Pharmacy First service. There were 198,794 completed clinical pathways in October 2024, the month before the advertising campaign. This increased to 259,323 completed clinical pathways during December 2024.
A second public advertising campaign on Pharmacy First ran from 20 October 2025 to 4 January 2026. Evaluation of this most recent campaign is underway.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department uses artificial intelligence for decision making on immigration applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Where appropriate, we use AI to improve productivity and effectiveness in our public services. All applications made under the Immigration Rules are considered and decided by trained human decision-makers.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the estimated costs saved to businesses following the cancellation of the Audit Reform and Corporate Governance bill.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has not made a full assessment of the costs to business of the policies previously intended to form part of the Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill. Most of those costs would have come from the expansion of the Public Interest Entity audit regime to private companies with 1000 or more employees and £1 billion or more in turnover.