theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Israeli armed forces personnel are attending training courses in the UK; which courses they are taking; and where those courses are located. \p Luke Pollard: This information is being withheld in order to protect personal information and to avoid prejudicing relations between the United Kingdom and another State.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential lessons that could be learned from the use of RCH 155 by Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: The Mobile Fires Platform project will deliver the Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155mm (RCH 155) Calibre Wheeled Artillery System through a jointly led collaborative procurement between the UK and Germany.

The project does not anticipate any direct impact to RCH certification following Germany’s decision to provide Ukraine with RCH 155.

Underpinning the collaborative approach of the UK and Germany is the commitment to exchange project related information that may afford a deeper understanding of the capability, to inform wider integration considerations. This may include an assessment of any potential lessons from the training and use of RCH 155 by Ukraine.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 23156 on Diego Garcia: Military Bases, on what dates each meeting took place; which Ministers in his Department were present at each meeting; and whether the (a) Diego Garcia military base and (b) terms of the proposed Chagos settlement were discussed with people representing the incoming US Administration. \p Luke Pollard: The Government looks forward to working with the incoming US Administration in the months and years ahead. The Senate confirmation process is ongoing for members of President Trump's cabinet.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans that the RCH 155 will reach minimum deployable capability. \p Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 December 2024 to Question xx-xxxx-xxxx to the right hon. Member for Raleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois).

Artillery Procurement (docx, 15.3KB)
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of GDP is the UK's defence spending excluding Trident. \p Maria Eagle: The Defence Nuclear Enteprise, which delivers our nuclear deterrent, is a cornerstone of our national security. Excluding the Defence Nuclear Enterprise investment of £9.4 billion in financial year 2023-24, defence spending would have been 1.9% of GDP.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of investing in the marine economy. \p Sarah Jones: The Department for Business and Trade recognises the critical importance of the marine economy to the UK, facilitating around 95% of the country’s trade in goods, directly employing 227,000 people and generating over £55bn in business turnover in 2019. This sector also plays a vital role in advancing the UK’s sustainability goals - highlighted by the Department for Transport's recent announcement of a further £30m investment into the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. My department works closely with the sector to support new investment opportunities and to help achieve sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth.
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Matt Bishop:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to protect pubs in (a) Forest of Dean constituency and (b) other rural communities. \p Gareth Thomas: Pubs and hospitality businesses, including those in rural areas and Forest of Dean, are at the heart of our communities and are vital for economic growth. That is why the Government is creating a fairer business rate system by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026-27 and extending the current relief for 1 year at 40%.

The government is also reducing alcohol duty on qualifying draught products, representing an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year. This work will be supported by the publication of The Small Business Strategy Command Paper which will be published later this year.

Through the Hospitality Sector Council, we are addressing strategic issues for the sector related to high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity.
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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many small businesses the Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports has visited since 4 July 2024. \p Gareth Thomas: I have engaged extensively with small businesses since my appointment, including visits to Ware, Coventry, Birmingham, Durham, Darlington, Gateshead, and various locations in London. I also regularly attend small business round tables alongside industry representatives such as the Federation of Small Business, Small Business Britain, and Enterprise Nation, as well as meeting small businesses one-to-one in the Department for Business and Trade.

I am looking forward to having further engagements.
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Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the costs to the Child Maintenance Service are of the (a) supervision and (b) processing of (i) Direct Pay and (ii) Collect and Pay arrangements. \p Andrew Western: The cost of running the Child Maintenance Service is not separated between a) supervision and (b) processing of (i) Direct Pay and (ii) Collect and Pay arrangements, therefore, the information requested is not held.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of how many people have been absent from work because of long term sickness over the last six months. \p Alison McGovern: The latest available data for long-term sickness absence covers the period from July 2023 to June 2024.

In July 2023 to June 2024, 1.55 million people in the UK had been absent from work because of long-term sickness. This statistic can be found in the employment of disabled people 2024 table SAB001.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to respond to the Freedom of Information Act request by Mr Langton of 21 December 2024. \p Andrew Western: Mr Langton’s Freedom of Information request was made electronically and was received by the Department on 21 December 2024. The request has been given the reference FOI2024/105315. The statutorily defined deadline to respond to any Freedom of Information request is to do so on or before the 20th working day following receipt of the request. The deadline for this request is 23 January 2025 and we aim to respond on or before that date.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the Skilled Worker salary threshold on service levels in her Department. \p Andrew Western: Whilst the impact of changes to the Skilled Worker Salary threshold are affecting a very small proportion of staff within the Department, visa expiry and potential options for obtaining a future work visa are specific to individuals’ circumstances and the Home Office legislation which applies at the time that their current visa expires.

As current employees’ Visa expiry dates span several years and not all will be impacted by the changes to the skilled worker salary thresholds, the department does not expect changes to the Skilled Worker salary threshold to negatively impact on service levels.
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Mr Luke Charters:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Child Maintenance Service is taking to ensure equitable treatment of Armed Forces families. \p Andrew Western: The Child Maintenance Service operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.

Child Maintenance legislation ensures that paying parents employed by the Armed Forces, at home and abroad, are still required to contribute towards their children.

Where a Paying Parent is not paying or is inconsistent with their payments, Deduction from Earnings Orders (DEO) can be applied as a method of payment, where the Child Maintenance Service deducts maintenance directly from the Paying Parent’s wages. Deduction from Earnings Requests are similar to a Deduction from Earnings Order but used for Paying Parents who are serving members of the Armed Forces.

The Child Maintenance Service can request a deduction to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), but unlike civilian employers they cannot order or enforce payment. MOD policy aims to comply with requests; however if the Paying Parent is committed to operational duties MOD may suspend the collection of debt for a limited period.
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Mark Sewards:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of recommending the inclusion of Attendance Allowance recipients to the Motability scheme. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Attendance Allowance is intended to help those with a severe disability who have long term care or supervision needs which arise after reaching State Pension age. It has never included a mobility component, and so cannot be used in payment for a leased Motability Scheme vehicle. Government mobility support is focused on people who are disabled earlier in life; developing mobility needs in older life is a normal consequence of ageing, which non-disabled younger people have had opportunity to plan and save for.

There is no constraint on what an award of Attendance Allowance can be spent on, and a recipient may choose to use this benefit to fund mobility aids.

There are no plans to review the Scheme’s qualifying benefits.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of social security benefits for people unable to work because of an acquired brain injury. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department does not hold the information requested.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's steps to enforce pension provision by private companies. \p Torsten Bell: Enabling people to achieve security in retirement is a key priority for this Government.

Automatic Enrolment has seen 88% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension, with participation remaining high throughout the Cost of Living challenges of recent years.

The Pensions Regulator is responsible for maximising compliance with the Automatic Enrolment duties, with over 2.5 million employers doing so to date.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to provide a formal response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on the Department for Work and Pensions’ communication of changes, published on 19 July 2021. \p Torsten Bell: We provided a formal response to the Ombudsman’s findings on the State Pension age investigation on 17 December 2024. This can be found in the library of both houses and is publicly available on GOV.UK. Government response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Investigation into Women’s State Pension age communications and associated issues - GOV.UK
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints submitted to the Pension Ombudsman Service are awaiting adjudication; and whether she plans to provide additional resources to the Pension Ombudsman Service to reduce the backlog. \p Torsten Bell: Currently there are approximately 1,700 cases with The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) awaiting adjudication. Recently we agreed the TPO budget for 2025/26 which includes ongoing funding for additional staff to reduce backlogs.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what target her Department set for the number of new sign ups to Pension Credit between July and December 2024. \p Torsten Bell: No targets for new awards or applications have been set, but the Government wants everyone eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to. That’s why we have been taking significant steps to maximise the take-up of Pension Credit. The Department’s campaign to promote Pension Credit has been running since September on TV, radio, social media such as Facebook and Instagram, on YouTube, on advertising screens, including on GP and Post Office screens as well as in the press. The latest phase of the campaign was aimed at friends and family - especially adult children of eligible pensioners - asking them to tell people they know about Pension Credit, encourage them to check their eligibility, as well as help them make a claim. In order to promote Pension Credit through as many channels as possible, we have also engaged with key stakeholders and partners, including other government departments, local councils, housing associations, community groups, local libraries and service providers as well as charities and third sector organisations.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people signed up for Pension Credit between July and December 2024. \p Torsten Bell: Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes were published on 28 November 2024. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK

Please note, the next publication of Pension Credit application statistics is due around the end of February 2025 and will cover the data up to week commencing 10 February 2025.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners earning less than the Pension Credit threshold who did not receive winter fuel payment in winter 2024-25. \p Torsten Bell: The Department does not yet have data on households who did not receive a Winter Fuel Payment in Winter 2024/25. The latest data on Winter Fuel Payment caseload is available here: Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners in poverty in winter (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2023-24. \p Torsten Bell: Statistics on the number of people living in relative and absolute poverty both before and after housing costs are produced on an annual basis and published in the Households Below Average Income statistics.

The latest available data covers financial year ending 2023, and is published by the Department here Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) fraud, (b) debt and (c) error through AI. \p Andrew Western: Since the pandemic, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has lost over £8 billion per year to fraud and error. DWP has committed to further fraud, error and debt measures at Autumn Budget 2024; these will deliver an additional £7bn between 2025/26 and 29/30. Detail about how DWP uses machine learning to reduce benefit fraud can be found in the Delivery Objective: tackle fraud and drive efficiencies section of our latest Annual Report and Accounts: DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 (HTML) - GOV.UK
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Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former armed forces personnel have been subject to enforcement proceedings by the Child Maintenance Service since 2021. \p Andrew Western: The information requested is not available, as the Child Maintenance Service do not maintain a historical record of employers for each paying parent.
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Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents party to a child maintenance agreement are assessed to have an income of less than £12,570 per year; how many paying parents are in receipt of universal credit; and how many paying parents are estimated to be earning less than the receiving parent. \p Andrew Western: At the end of September 2024, there were 289,000 Paying Parents using the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) with a recorded income of less than £12,570 per year. This is 43% of all Paying Parents for whom we held income information.

Information on the number of Paying Parents claiming Universal Credit is published quarterly on StatXplore, as part of the ‘CMS Paying Parents’ dataset. Information on Universal Credit claims is generally not available for the latest published quarter, therefore the most recent information available relates to the end of June 2024 (rather than September 2024, as for most other information in this dataset). At this time, 199,000 Paying Parents claimed Universal Credit. This is 29% of all 675,000 Paying Parents who were using CMS at this time.

The income of the Receiving Parent does not factor into the CMS maintenance calculation, and so this information is not collected by CMS. Therefore, the information requested in the third part of your question is not readily available (and to produce it would incur disproportionate cost). However, you may be interested in the latest Separated Families Statistics, which contain some information, derived from survey data, of the position of ‘non-resident parent’ and ‘parent with care’ households within the Great Britain income distribution. See in particular section 6 of the release document. These statistics include all separated families and are not specific to CMS users.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the effectiveness safeguards for people with mental health conditions when engaging with the benefits system. \p Sir Stephen Timms: All customer-facing DWP colleagues are undertaking mandatory mental health awareness training to better support claimants who may present with mental health issues. All colleagues also have access to a wide range of guidance and signposting to help support customers. Where further specialist help is required, DWP has a national network of Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders who can provide additional advice and support through the local networks they have built with external partners and organisations.

Additionally, through the national DWP Visiting Service, the department provides additional face-to-face support across all service lines to customers who cannot access DWP services in any other way. A visit can be arranged for a customer if they need extra help to claim benefits, for example because they have complex needs, are disabled, are a vulnerable young person making a claim for the first time, have nobody else to support them or cannot claim benefits in any other way.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department issues to Disability Living Allowance claimants during the wait for their claim to be assessed; and what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for Children is the only DLA product that has new claims. There are no longer new claims for DLA Adult, as customers over 16 are invited to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and customers over the state pensions age are invited to claim Attendance Allowance (AA), rather than the DLA 65+.

At present, for Disability Living Allowance for Children, once a claim has been registered a system generated letter is sent to the customer to advise that the claim is being looked at with an approximate time frame, a progress acknowledgement letter may be sent at 7 weeks for new claims if the claim has not had a decision at that point.

Special Rules End of Life claims are dealt with as a priority and the above does not apply as these are expected to be decided within 10 days.

Telephony agents are also kept up to date for any telephony enquiries.

In 2025 plans are in place to add information to an automated text once claims are registered. Work is also being undertaken to add a page to gov.uk

In addition to this, new staff have been recruited and staff redeployed to help meet the increased number of claims and work is also underway to deliver improvements to the customer journey.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in the new Syrian government on protecting the rights of minority religious communities in Syria. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The Foreign Secretary underlined the importance of an inclusive political process with interim Foreign Minister Al Shaybani during a meeting in Riyadh on 12 January. In December 2024, senior FCDO officials met with the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the interim Foreign Minister. They highlighted the need to protect the rights of all civilians, including religious minorities. We are closely monitoring the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We will continue to advocate for the right of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Syria and for an inclusive political transition.
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Priti Patel:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has received from his Mauritian counterpart on the length of the proposed lease of the military base on Diego Garcia since 3 October 2024. \p Stephen Doughty: The agreement will have a duration of 99 years from entry into force, extendable with the agreement of both parties.
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Sammy Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the Government's allocated funding for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief has been directed towards supporting persecuted Christian communities globally in the last three financial years. \p Anneliese Dodds: The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. The FCDO John Bunyan Fund (JBF), the designated programme for FoRB-focused overseas projects has a budget allocation of £460,720 in FY24/25. In FY 23/24 the JBF spent £170,000 and in FY22/23, £70,000. The FCDO works to ensure that Official Development Assistance (ODA) is allocated to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity. This includes minority religious or belief communities, including Christians, who are assessed by our partners when determining those most in need of protection and assistance.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department took to assess the safety of travel to countries bordering the Red Sea before issuing travel advice on diving and snorkelling in the travel advice on Egypt. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The safety of British nationals in each country and territory is the FCDO's overriding concern when determining travel advice. FCDO travel advice is based on objective assessments of the risks to British nationals. These assessments are made by drawing on expert sources of information available to the government including local knowledge from our embassies, information provided by the local authorities in each country, and in some cases information gathered by the intelligence services. Travel Advice for Egypt was updated on 24 December 2024, following a review of incidents on dive boats involving British nationals in 2023/2024.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it her policy to seize UK-based assets of Bashar al-Assad and redirect the funds to Syrian civil society. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: After decades of atrocities committed by the Assad regime, we stand with the people of Syria.

UK-based assets of the Assad regime remain frozen. As with all our sanctions, we keep our approach under review. We do not comment on future designations as to do so lessens their potential impact.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to help deter malign Iranian activity in the UK. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: Iran's malign activity is unacceptable. In response the to the regime's human rights violations, nuclear weapons programme, malign influence internationally and state threats, the UK has more than 450 sanctions designations in place on Iranian individuals and entities. The UK has also sanctioned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety.

We will continue to use all tools at our disposal, to protect the UK and its overseas interests against any threats from the Iranian state.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK aid to Pakistan is not used to support human rights abuses in Balochistan. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The UK remains deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan, including in Balochistan. Whilst UK Aid does not directly deliver in Balochistan, the UK Government continues to engage with the Government of Pakistan on human rights matters. I raised the importance of upholding civil and political rights with senior Pakistani Ministers, including the Minister for Human Rights and Interior Minister, during my visit to Pakistan in November 2024. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan in accordance with its constitution and international standards.
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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that a substantial increase in humanitarian aid flows into Gaza is included as a condition within a permanent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: We have always been clear that a ceasefire is just the first step towards a lasting solution to this crisis. We must build confidence on all sides that helps sustain a ceasefire and move it into a lasting peace. Crucially, we need to see an immediate surge of aid into Gaza, and we will work with Israel, the UN and all partners to facilitate that. As part of this, we need safe and effective aid distribution, and the protection of the civilian population including ensuring immediate access to healthcare, shelter and food. The UK continues to do all we can to alleviate this suffering. We have provided £112 million this financial year, including £41 million for UNRWA, which is supporting the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Palestinian refugees in the region.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of risk to the safety of health workers in Gaza; and what steps he is taking to help protect those workers. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: We welcome the agreement to end the fighting in Gaza. It is the first step in ensuring long-term peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians and the wider region, bringing much-needed stability, but we have always been clear that an immediate ceasefire is just the first step towards a lasting solution to this crisis. Gazan civilians must be protected, and able to access effective healthcare. The UK has consistently raised concerns about the impact of this conflict on Gaza's healthcare system and medical staff, including reiterating the requirement for all parties to comply with International Humanitarian Law. Israel must allow medical staff to carry out their work unimpeded, and to travel around Gaza as needed. On 27 December I made clear to Israel's government that the situation in northern Gaza cannot continue and raised our serious concern about repeated strikes on Kamal Adwan hospital, and the safety of civilians and medical workers there. In recent weeks, I have raised the need to ensure healthcare facilities in North Gaza are protected, and to enable World Health Organization and International Committee of the Red Cross access, with both the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister and Israel's Ambassador to the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Melanie Ward:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Israeli government on the attack on Balata refugee camp in December 2024. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The Foreign Secretary has regularly raised issues of International Humanitarian Law compliance with the Israeli Government. Stability in the West Bank is crucial to ensure that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza can last. All sides should work to ensure a lowering of tension in the West Bank at this time. The ceasefire marks the first step in ensuring long-term peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider region, bringing much-needed stability. Our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people - grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_264

Uma Kumaran:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help tackle the ethnicity pay gap. \p Seema Malhotra: As set out in the King’s Speech in July, the government is committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers. These measures will be part of the upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

We will shortly be consulting on our proposals to help us shape the legislation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_265

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of rented electric (a) bikes and (b) scooters illegally parked on pavements. \p Simon Lightwood: The Government recognises the widespread concern that this issue causes pedestrians and especially the danger which obstructively parked cycles can cause those with disabilities. Part of our work to regulate on-street micromobility, and as announced in the English Devolution White Paper, includes our ambition to put local government in a stronger position to manage the parking of these vehicles to tackle obstructive parking and hold operators to account where issues persist.

For the e-scooter trials, the Department for Transport has published guidance for how trials should run which makes clear that there will need to be sufficient parking provision in trial areas and local authorities should ensure that e-scooters do not become obstructive to others. Local authorities are responsible for parking in their trial areas and any complaints about parking should be directed to the relevant council. Operators additionally employ geofencing, parking incentives and penalties to prevent obstructive parking.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_266

Sojan Joseph:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of statutory safeguard training for (a) private hire and (b) taxi drivers under the Police and Crime Act 2017. \p Simon Lightwood: The Policing and Crime Act 2017 enables the Secretary of State for Transport to issue statutory guidance to licensing authorities on exercising their taxi and private hire vehicle licensing functions to protect children and vulnerable adults. Statutory guidance was published in 2020 under these powers. This means that all licensing authorities should provide safeguarding advice and guidance to the sector and should require all taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake safeguarding training. Licensing authorities are responsible for deciding the content and format of such training.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_267

Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new approach to access charges to help incentivise rail freight operators to (a) fund greener assets and (b) use the network more efficiently. \p Simon Lightwood: As set out in Getting Britain Moving, we will reform the existing access, charging and capacity allocation regime, to enable GBR to become the directing mind and decision maker on use of its infrastructure. Part of this will involve considering how the new system could enable non-GBR operators, such as freight, to be incentivised to invest in greener traction or make better use of the network.

However, before the Bill is introduced to Parliament, it is important to find out what industry stakeholders and the public think of these proposed reforms. Feedback from the eight-week public consultation, that we intend to launch in due course, will therefore help to inform the proposition on track access charging.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_268

Shivani Raja:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to take steps to improve the equitable distribution of practical driving test slots in (a) England and (b) Leicester East constituency. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

On the 18 December, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 Driving Examiners (DEs) and improving rules for booking driving tests. Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK.

As part of recent recruitment at Driving Test Centres (DTC) that serve the Leicester East constituency, DVSA has just concluded a campaign at Leicester Cannock Street DTC and has made employment offers to successful candidates.

In addition to the recruitment plans at Cannock Street DTC, DVSA has been growing the teams at surrounding sites which will help to balance the demand across the Leicestershire area.

At Leicester Wigston DTC, two new DEs were recruited last year, with an additional new entrant due to start later this month. At Loughborough DTC, two new DEs also joined last year, and the DVSA is making offers to two more potential new entrants from the most recent recruitment campaign.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_269

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with the DVLA on the potential merits of accepting eye tests from certified opticians other than Specsavers for frequent license renewals where they are required. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will already consider eyesight tests carried out by opticians other than Specsavers. However, examinations carried out by Specsavers, as the DVLA’s contracted partner, ensure a consistent application of the required eyesight standards.

Eyesight tests with an opticians other than Specsavers are carried out at the individual driver’s expense and the test may not meet the appropriate specifications, meaning that the applicant may still be asked to go for a further examination at Specsavers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_270

Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to improve consumer protections for air travel. \p Mike Kane: The UK already has a Regulatory framework to protect air passenger rights, including during disruptions such as cancellations and delays, and for disabled and less mobile passenger. The Department for Transport will continue to consider options for strengthening air passenger rights; working with industry, stakeholders and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ensure consumers continue to have a high level of protection whilst travelling by air.

The Department for Transport launched the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group in November. It brings together industry experts and consumer representatives to identify practical and achievable actions to improve aviation accessibility.

Furthermore, the Department for Transport is continuing work with the CAA exploring how the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL) scheme should operate in the future to continue to provide valued protection for consumers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_271

Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with airlines on the transparency of their terms and conditions. \p Mike Kane: Airlines are required by law to have fair and transparent terms and conditions. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for ensuring airlines are meeting this legal obligation and will take enforcement action where necessary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_272

Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Cornwall Newquay Airport to London Southend Airport route operated by Eastern Airways is part of a Public Service Obligation deal. \p Mike Kane: The Cornwall Newquay Airport to London Southend Airport route planned by Eastern Airways is a commercial service that is not part of the Public Service Obligation (PSO) contract.

The Department for Transport along with Cornwall Council continues to fund the PSO between Cornwall Newquay Airport and London Gatwick.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_273

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what purposes (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have used AI in the last 12 months. \p Mike Kane: Over the last 12 months AI has been used for a variety of purposes in the Department for Transport.

The department is participating in a pilot of the Microsoft Copilot AI product with ~230 staff. The pilot is being conducted to determine the benefits of this product (particularly potential efficiencies) and its reliability in relation to accuracy and data security.

The department also has an internal programme to develop bespoke in-house AI solutions for a number of specific use cases. The majority of these are still in development and have therefore not yet been used. Those that have are listed below:

Automated drafting of correspondence: AI is being used (currently within a small pilot) to create first drafts of responses to treat official correspondence. These are checked and finalised by officials before being sent.

Automated consultation analysis: AI is being developed to streamline the analysis of open text responses to public consultations, in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute. This is being piloted with a live call for ideas. The performance of the AI is being thoroughly evaluated by social research specialist to ensure reliability.

Fraud detection: AI enabled computer vision has been used to detect fabricated applications for the department's electric vehicle chargepoint grant. This has flagged a large number of applications, leading to further investigation and grants being reclaimed.

Automation of roadside surveys: AI enabled computer vision has been used to automate aspects of a survey to measure vehicle excise duty compliance, replacing a time-consuming manual process.

HGV detection: AI enabled computer vision has been used to analyse ariel imagery to assess potential locations for a future network of electric HGV chargers.

Where personal data has been processed in any of the above examples a Data Protection Impact Assessment has been carried out and all data has been handled in-line with the department’s personal information charter.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_274

Ruth Cadbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has plans to consult with (a) community and (b) environmental groups on her Department's plans to modernise airspace. \p Mike Kane: Anyone sponsoring a proposal to change airspace must follow the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Airspace Change Process (CAP1616). This process sets out the requirements for airspace change sponsors to engage with and consult those potentially affected by airspace change, including local communities and environmental groups. This includes a requirement to engage with relevant stakeholders at different stages of the process, from the initial design principles to detailed options appraisal, before any final plans are submitted to the CAA.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-21 conversation_275

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that airports are accessible. \p Mike Kane: The Department for Transport launched the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group in November 2024. Led by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, it brings together experts from industry and consumer representatives to develop practical and achievable industry-led actions to improve aviation accessibility throughout the consumer journey.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) - the sector’s independent regulator – is also responsible for ensuring industry is meeting its legal obligations in relation to aviation accessibility. It undertakes annual assessments of airports against the Airport Accessibility Performance Framework, which provides a ranking of UK airports.