Oral Answers to Questions

Tessa Munt Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

Decisions about speed limits on local roads are matters for the local highway authority. I think that that is right, because local leaders will know their areas best. I am also acutely aware that if someone is hit by a car travelling at 20 mph, they are five times less likely to die than if they are hit by one travelling at 30 mph. Appropriate decisions need to be taken by the appropriate authority for local circumstances.

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

My constituent Sophia is 35, has cerebral palsy and numerous other difficulties and spends her life in a wheelchair as a result of poor NHS care when she was born. Her parents have a mobility wheelchair-accessible vehicle and take her to daycare four days a week, 13 miles away, for 48 weeks of the year, clocking up 49,920 miles for daycare alone every five years. She has numerous hospital appointments, which is a trip of 58 miles, and trips to the dentist and other specialists punctuate every single month. Under the Government’s new legislation, Sophia’s parents—her carers—will have to pay 25p for every mile over the new 50,000-mile threshold, which is likely to cost them several thousand pounds. Will the Minister impress on her colleagues the need to adjust that threshold for life in the country—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. One of us is going to sit down, and it will not be me. As a Whip, the hon. Lady well knows that topical questions are meant to be short and punchy. As important as this is, I am sure the Minister has got the answer ready.