Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has had discussions with Motability Operations on whether the additional mileage support criteria for the Motability Scheme adequately supports the travel requirements of disabled people and carers in rural and coastal areas.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Responsibility for the terms and administration of the Scheme sits with Motability Foundation and its Board of Governors. Department officials and Motability meet regularly to review the Scheme and how it operates to ensure it meets the needs of disabled people
After careful consideration of customer's needs, Motability has announced that from 1 July 2026, customers who need significantly more travel than the standard mileage allowance for essential healthcare, education or employment journeys may be eligible for additional mileage support. Customers must demonstrate they require more than 3,000 miles a year for these purposes, with support applied to approved miles above that threshold through reduced excess mileage charges, while leisure and holiday travel is excluded. Support can be requested when ordering a vehicle or during a lease, with eligibility assessed based on individual circumstances and supporting evidence.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on how many occasions and on what dates Ministers from his department met with representatives of the Baking Industry in a. 2024, b. 2025 and c. 2026.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of meetings held by Ministers of the Department for Business and Trade have been routinely published on the transparency pages of gov.uk since the department’s establishment in February 2023.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support the establishment of an Urgent Treatment Centre in North Norfolk.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no plans to establish an Urgent Treatment Centre in North Norfolk.
The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is progressing work to develop a network of urgent treatment centres across the county as part of wider improvements to urgent and emergency care services. This work is intended to support greater consistency in access to urgent care and ensure services are developed in line with local population needs and national guidance.
Urgent care services for people living in North Norfolk are currently delivered through a range of National Health Services, including the Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) at Cromer Hospital.
The MIU at Cromer Hospital continues to provide assessment and treatment for a range of minor injuries, and there are currently no plans to change this service. Alongside the MIU, residents are able to access urgent care through general practice, NHS 111, community pharmacy services and, where clinically appropriate, ambulance services and emergency departments.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings Ministers in his department have attended in relation to coastal health inequalities in 2026.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Ministers in the Department meet regularly on a range of topics, including tackling health inequalities, to which coastal inequalities are closely linked.
The Government has committed to act on the social determinants of health, to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, while increasing it for everyone, and to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
Work to improve outcomes in coastal communities is being progressed through a range of programmes and policy initiatives, including efforts to better align health, employment, and skills interventions, support workforce participation, and strengthen prevention and early intervention in areas with the greatest need.
This includes neighbourhood health centres, which aim to improve primary care access, addressing transport barriers and reducing reliance on acute hospitals.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether surveys or questionnaires have been issued to Coastguard Rescue Officers in relation to changes to remuneration.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many medical driving licence applications took longer than six months to be issued in a. 2023, b. 2024, c. 2025 and d. 2026 to date.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the number of medical driving licence applications where it took longer than six months for the licence to be issued in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 to date. Please note that the figures for each year include medical cases that were opened in that year but took more than six months for the medical investigation to be completed and the licence to be issued.
Year | Volume of cases where the licence took more than six months to be issued |
Cases opened between 1 January and 31 December 2023 | 59,218 |
Cases opened between 1 January and 31 December 2024 | 67,419 |
Cases opened between 1 January and 31 December 2025 | 68,116 |
Cases opened between 1 January and 14 July 2026 (until 14 July 2026) | 314 |
The figure in the final row of the table relates to applications received from 1 January 2026 that have taken longer than six months for a licence to be issued. As we are only in the seventh month of the year, that means relatively few applications received in 2026 have taken longer than six months to resolve, hence the lower figure.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many companies registered in England and Wales have declared a legal entity registered abroad as a person with significant control.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In limited cases, a foreign company can be a Relevant Legal Entity (RLE) and can be legitimately recorded as a UK company's Person with Significant Control (PSC).
We identified 24,450 unique, non-dissolved companies on the England and Wales register that have at least one active RLE registered to an overseas country or territory as a PSC.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce backlogs in police digital forensic examination of seized phones, tablets and other devices, and whether guidance is issued to police forces on mitigating the impact on people who rely on those devices for caring responsibilities, banking, medical information and essential online services.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise that delays in examining digital devices can have an impact on criminal investigations, victims and individuals who rely on those devices for everyday essential services. Our plans to reform police forensic services into a nationally managed capability will enable new technologies and best practices to be rolled out faster and more consistently.
The NPCC and College of Policing have issued best practice guidance on police storage and retention of devices.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many projects to improve mobile signal in North Norfolk constituency have been funded and part-funded by her Department in a) 2022, b) 2023, c) 2024, d) 2025 and e) 2026.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
No projects to improve mobile signal in the North Norfolk constituency have been funded or part-funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology between 2022 and 2026.
The constituency has not been identified for intervention from the Government funded elements of the Shared Rural Network programme (SRN) over this period because of the high level of 4G geographic coverage across the constituency, although it has received industry investment through the programme.
According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations Spring update, published on 13 May 2026, it is reported that, as of January 2026, 91% of the North Norfolk constituency landmass has 4G geographic coverage from all four MNOs.
No further coverage uplift is currently forecast for the constituency from the Government-funded element of the SRN programme, with the construction phase of the programme expected to conclude in January 2027.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many companies registered in England and Wales have declared a trustee of a (a) trust and (b) legal arrangement as a person with significant control.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are currently 107,382 companies registered in England and Wales who have at least one person of significant control (PSC) currently appointed with a nature of control designating them a trustee of a trust.
Companies House does not have a separate classification to distinguish those PSCs who are trustees of a legal arrangement. Companies House are required to collect information prescribed by law and no stipulation exists in the relevant legislation which creates a separate category which is distinct from trustees of trusts.