Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has held discussions with optical providers on participation in a scheme for eyesight testing for drivers aged 70 and over renewing their licence; and whether she is taking steps to ensure that any such scheme allows certification by any suitably qualified optician rather than a single provider.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Alongside the strategy, we launched five consultations including a consultation on introducing mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers. We welcome responses from optometrists and optometrist organisations to the consultations.
On 24 February, I chaired a roundtable meeting on eyesight and older drivers which involved representatives from the optical sector and optometrist organisations to discuss mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers.
Department officials have also met with various optometrist organisations (including the College of Optometrists and the Association of Optometrists) while developing the proposed changes to eyesight testing for older drivers.
We will continue to engage with optometrist organisations as our policies develop further.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
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 staff providing NHS services being employed on different contractual terms to NHS Agenda for Change staff on (a) equality and (b) the workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This specific assessment has not been made. Independent organisations commissioned by the National Health Service in England, such as general practices or social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including the pay scales that they use.
Where such organisations choose to dynamically link to any of the national contracts, including Agenda for Change, those staff will be contractually entitled to receive the same uplifts in pay and associated terms and conditions as staff employed in NHS organisations.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that NHS commissioning ensures equivalent employment practices in outsourced NHS services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to making work pay and ensuring that outsourced services are delivered in a way that improves quality, gives greater stability and longer-term investment in the workforce, and delivers better value for money as part of the broader commitments on procurement.
In December 2025 the Employment Rights Act received Royal Assent and passed into law. This act aims to enhance worker security, fairness, and pay, as well as banning exploitative practices.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he consulted (a) Cabinet and (b) the Prime Minister prior to the decision to (i) postpone the 2026 local elections and (ii) reverse that postponement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that government does not comment on or publish legal advice.
Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way.
We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for areas undergoing reorganisation.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he sought legal advice prior to the decision to postpone the scheduled 2026 local elections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that government does not comment on or publish legal advice.
Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way.
We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for areas undergoing reorganisation.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to local authorities arising from the postponement of the 2026 local elections and the subsequent reversal of that decision; and whether those costs will be reimbursed.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that government does not comment on or publish legal advice.
Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way.
We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for areas undergoing reorganisation.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has paid for legal costs arising from proceedings concerning the proposed postponement of the 2026 local elections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that government does not comment on or publish legal advice.
Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way.
We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for areas undergoing reorganisation.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has produced a risk assessment on the ability of local authorities affected by the reversal of the 2026 local election postponement to deliver those elections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that government does not comment on or publish legal advice.
Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way.
We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for areas undergoing reorganisation.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what operational guidance (including authorised professional practice, College of Policing guidance, National Police Chiefs’ Council guidance, or Home Office circulars) governs police involvement in safeguarding incidents where officers facilitate or endorse a material change in a child’s place of residence despite the refusal of a person with parental responsibility and without exercising section 46 of the Children Act 1989; and whether that guidance requires officers to (a) treat the arrangement as time-limited, (b) take steps to ensure the child is returned absent lawful authority, or (c) notify or refer the matter to the local authority and/or Family Court within a fixed timeframe, and what consequence applies if this does not occur.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The police play a vital role in safeguarding children and relevant guidance materials. This includes the College of Policing's Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and the statutory guidance for safeguarding partners Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023). Furthermore, the Home Office circular 017/2008 provides guidance on the duties and powers of the police under the Children Act 1989, and the Home Office Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit includes guidance on how and when police powers of protection of children can be used.
As outlined in these documents, the police have a power to remove a child to suitable accommodation under Section 46 of the Children Act 1989, if they have reasonable cause to believe that the child would otherwise be likely to suffer significant harm.
Where police powers are exercised, Section 46 puts an upper limit of 72 hours on the length of time a child may be kept in police protection. Once powers are exercised, officers are required to notify the relevant local authority and they should ensure the child is moved to accommodation provided by or on behalf of the local authority, or a refuge.
Police powers can help in emergency situations but should only be used were necessary, for example if is there is insufficient time for the local authority to seek an Emergency Protection Order (EPO), and decisions to remove a child from a parent or carer should be made by a court. Without use of Section 46, the police cannot change a child’s place of residence.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of use of Community Protection Warnings in cases involving people experiencing a mental health crisis; and what guidance exists on the use of those powers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’) provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of tools and powers that they can use to respond to anti-social behaviour. This includes Community Protection Warnings and Notices which can be used to stop a person aged 16 or over, business or organisation committing anti-social behaviour which spoils the community’s quality of life.
While the details of how the powers are used in individual cases are an operational matter, the Home Office provides statutory guidance to support local agencies in the use of the powers and tools in the 2014 Act. The guidance highlights the importance of considering the needs and circumstances of vulnerable perpetrators when applying the powers.
The Home Office does not currently collect data on the reasons why the ASB powers were issued.