Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 14 September 2026 to Question 27682 on Palliative Care: Eligibility, if she will require a referral to a Specialist Palliative Care assessment from (a) hospitals and (b) community centres to be triggered following a diagnosis of terminal illness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Specialist palliative care services support people with more complex needs. Not all patients with a terminal illness will need specialist palliative care input. For many patients, their palliative care needs can be managed effectively with access to high-quality generalist services.
Through our forthcoming Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care, we want to see robust generalist delivery of palliative and end-of-life care across the board, alongside ensuring timely access to specialist palliative care support when required. We recognise the importance of strengthening links between generalist and specialist services, ensuring that the services are joined up and integrated.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including a requirement to check whether a vehicle's number plate is a ghost plate during an MOT.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Vehicle registration plate checks are included within the MOT test. Registration plates are visually inspected to ensure they are legible, correctly displayed and comply with legal requirements, and non-compliant plates can result in an MOT failure.
The Department recognises concerns about vehicles using illegal or so-called "ghost" number plates and is working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the police and other partners to address this issue. We will continue to consider all appropriate measures as part of our wider work on illegal number plates.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking in response to the recommendations of the UK Parliamentary Right to Food Commission.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government welcomes the Right To Food Commission's report. While this Government is committed to delivering on the intent of the Right to Food, we do not have plans to legislate for it at this stage. Through ambitions set out in the Good Food Cycle, this Government is working to ensure access to safe, affordable healthy, convenient and appealing food options for everyone, with a particular focus on vulnerable and low-income households.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of (a) the potential merits of providing fire services with a wider range of enforcement powers to police the use of campfires and barbecues when the prevailing conditions make them dangerous and (b) the potential impact of providing fire services with these powers on the number of wildfires.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of tools and powers, including Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) that they can use to respond to anti-social behaviour. The powers in the 2014 Act are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the specific circumstances.
A PSPO allows a local authority to address persistent anti-social behaviour in a public place through proportionate restrictions or requirements. Before making a PSPO, councils must consult the police, the Police and Crime Commissioner, landowners affected by the order and other appropriate community representatives, and must be satisfied that the statutory legal test is met. It is for individual councils to decide how and to what extent to use these powers.
To manage wildfire risk specifically, a temporary ban on disposable barbecues came into force on Friday 14 August 2026 along with an emergency alert issued to step up action to protect communities from the threat posed by wildfires.
The Government will consider the case for further restrictions and will consider what more we can do as part of the wildfire summit.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to introduce a statutory early years SEND service to all areas of England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is already underpinned by statutory duties across the 0 to 25 age range, including early years settings. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care set out plans to strengthen early identification and support in early years settings through the SEND reform consultation.
The department is investing over £200 million over three years in Best Start Family Hubs for SEND, each with a named Best Start Inclusion Practitioner, providing flexible, early support for children aged 0 to 5 with emerging needs and their families, without requiring a formal diagnosis.
This sits alongside £1.8 billion so that every community has experts on hand, £1.6 billion going directly to settings for early intervention, over £200 million to train every teacher and an additional £3.7 billion capital investment between 2025 and 2030 to create 60,000 specialist places.
The SEND reform consultation has now closed and we are reviewing all responses.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of media freedom in Israel; and what steps he is taking to support independent journalists and media organisations transiting through Israel to operate in and reporting on Gaza and the West Bank.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has been clear in our engagement with the Government of Israel that journalists must be able to operate safely and in line with international humanitarian law, which provides explicit protections for civilians, including media workers. Through the Media Freedom Coalition, the UK, alongside our partners, has called on the Government of Israel to allow independent foreign media access to Gaza and the West Bank and afford protection to journalists operating there.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration she has given to reviewing the requirement for planning applications to deliver a 10% Biodiversity Net Gain where a site is otherwise unviable and a considerable period of time has passed since the development site came forward.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In April 2026, the Government announced a package of reforms to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) to make it quicker, cheaper and easier for developers. This includes a new 0.2 hectare exemption which came into effect on 6 August 2026 and forthcoming changes to how priority habitat mosaics on brownfield sites are assessed and compensated for. Government continues to focus on implementing those changes already announced.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to deliver the economic abuse commitments in the Financial Inclusion Strategy; and what mechanisms are in place to monitor and report on progress in delivering those commitments and improving outcomes for economic abuse victim-survivors.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Tackling economic abuse is a priority for this Government which is why it is included as a theme of the Financial Inclusion Strategy. The Strategy commits to interventions which will support victim-survivors regain financial independence by improving access to bank accounts, addressing the impact of coerced debt on credit files, and creating guidance for the insurance sector to improve support for victim-survivors.
Across these interventions, the Government is working closely with expert consumer representatives, the regulator, and industry to ensure successful delivery. As Economic Secretary, I also chair the Financial Inclusion Committee – a forum of consumer and industry representatives which was established to support the Strategy’s development and oversee its implementation. The Strategy will be reviewed two years on from publication to provide a comprehensive update on progress.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will integrate the births, deaths and marriages register.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There are currently no plans to integrate civil registration registers.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to introduce legislation enabling parents experiencing economic abuse and accessing the Child Maintenance Service to safely transition from Direct Pay into Collect and Pay.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government plans to abolish the direct pay service entirely so all parents can access the collect and pay service.
The removal of the Direct Pay service to a streamlined Collect and Pay service will enable CMS to monitor all payments and intervene promptly if an arrangement breaks down, as well as removing the need for parents to manage payment arrangements directly, providing a safer, more consistent service for families.
The Government believes that this is the most effective to improve compliance within CMS and strengthen protections for victims and survivors of domestic abuse, which includes economic abuse.
Our intention is to implement these changes as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
In the meantime, the CMS is strengthening its support for victim/survivors by making it easier for parents to switch to the Collect and Pay service through improvements to the ‘change to service type’ process. It is also being clearer in its communication about what support is available for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and how to access it.
Work is also ongoing with stakeholders to understand what additional support we can give to victims and survivors of abuse across the CMS customer journey.