Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether National Highways undertook a detailed assessment of the potential to construct temporary slip roads to allow Junction 38 of the M6 (northbound and southbound) to remain open for the duration of the Lune Gorge bridge replacement works; and whether that assessment was completed before the current construction programme was designed and approved.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways first assessed the potential for temporary slip roads during the project’s optioneering stage in 2019. Further consideration took place during early design development, and the option was not taken forward at that time due to spatial constraints, value for money considerations, the need for significant lane and speed restrictions, and the likelihood of a costly extension to the overall construction period. The construction programme and design was then taken forward on that basis.
In 2025, following engagement with local stakeholders, National Highways committed to revisit this option, with a feasibility exercise carried out in August 2025. This re-considered the option of temporary slip roads. The exercise supported the conclusions during the early design phase; specifically, that temporary slip roads were unsuitable due to the space needed to construct the bridge decks, as well as representing poor value for money. During 2025, the programme assessed a wide range of options to improve connectivity, and resulted in the decision to defer work on Lawtland House bridge to a future date, improving local connectivity during the construction period.
When National Highways presented their findings from the feasibility exercise, a revised construction methodology was submitted by BWB Consulting on behalf of local stakeholders in October 2025. National Highways has committed to review this proposal from BWB consulting to see if it has presented an alternative viable solution. The review will conclude in January 2026.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to allow NHS professionals to view the health records of ex-military patients from their time in military service.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Defence Medical Services (DMS) provide primary healthcare for serving personnel. All serving personnel will have a Defence Health Record which records their healthcare through their military service, whether provided by DMS or the National Health Service.
Serving personnel are provided with a medical care summary and a patient’s full Defence Health Record are transferred on request from their NHS general practitioner (GP). These are then available to be used and viewed as part of the individual’s medical records. These would also form part of digital records available via the NHS App and held by the respective veteran patient.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards a greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of closing Junction 38 of the M6 during the Lune Gorge bridge replacement works on local businesses.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government, working in close partnership with National Highways, is fully committed to this project being delivered in a way that minimises disruption to road users, businesses and local communities. National Highways has undertaken assessments to understand the impact this work will have on the region including an assessment of the impact on traffic flows of the proposed traffic management arrangements. National Highways is also reviewing a detailed feasibility report of proposals for Junction 38 which was provided last year. The review is expected to conclude in January 2026.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he will instruct National Highways to meet with BWB Consulting and Kier in an engineer-to-engineer review of proposals for temporary slip roads at Junction 38 of the M6.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways has facilitated discussions between BWB Consulting and Kier engineers, including a meeting held on 17 December 2025 to review proposals for temporary slip roads at Junction 38. A further update on temporary slip roads will be provided at the Stakeholder Engagement Group meeting at the end of January 2026.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the costs to the exchequer of reducing VAT for hospitality businesses to (a) 15%, (b) 10%, (c) 5% and (d) 0%.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC estimates that the cost of reducing the 20 per cent Standard Rate of VAT on all accommodation and food and beverage services would be as follows in 2026-27: (a) to 15%: £5 billion, (b) to 10%: £10.5 billion, (c) to 5%: £17 billion, (d) to 0%: £23.5 billion.
The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people died from smoking in England in each year since 2021.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest estimates for smoking-attributable mortality in England are for the period 2017 to 2019. The Smoking Profile, produced by the Department, reports 191,903 smoking-attributable deaths of people aged 35 years old and over in the period 2017 to 2019 in England, which is just under 64,000 deaths each year. Further information on the Smoking Profile is available at the following link:
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will update the Health and Technical Memorandum 03-01 for the latest technical standards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Published guidance on ventilation in healthcare settings includes the Health Technical Memorandum 03-01: Specialised ventilation for healthcare premises. It gives comprehensive advice and guidance on the legal requirements, design implications, maintenance, and operation of specialised ventilation in healthcare premises providing acute care. Further information is avaiable at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/specialised-ventilation-for-healthcare-buildings/
NHS England will update Health Technical Memorandums, including HTM 03-01, when necessary.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which public health factors created the 10 largest direct cost impacts on the NHS in 2024; and how much the NHS spent in 2024 on tackling the health impacts of the following public health factors: (a) air pollution, (b) alcoholism, (c) obesity, (d) excessive salt consumption and (e) smoking.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Global Burden of Disease data considers the top ten public health factors in the United Kingdom in 2023 in order of importance to be: tobacco, high body mass index, dietary risks, high fasting plasma glucose, high blood pressure, high alcohol use, high cholesterol, occupational risks, kidney dysfunction, and drug use. Further information on the Global Burden of Disease data is available at the following link:
https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/
The following table shows the various estimates of the cost to the National Health Service of the five factors specified:
Risk factor | Estimated NHS cost | Source of Estimate |
Air Pollution | £1.6 billion for fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide combined between 2017 and 2025. | Public Health England Agency, 2018 |
Alcohol | £4.9 billion annually | Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2021/22 |
Obesity | £9.3 billion annually | Frontier Economics & NESTA, 2025 |
Hypertension (excessive salt consumption is linked to an increased risk of hypertension) | £2.1 billion annually | Optimity Matrix (commissioned by Public Health England), 2014 |
Smoking | £1.8 billion annually | Action on Smoking and Health, 2025 |
Comparisons of costs should not be made between these estimates because of the different methodologies used in their construction.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding farmers are offered for flood management.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is funding environmental land management (ELM) schemes, which include measures to support farmers with managing flood risks or investing in natural flood management. The Government has committed to investing £11.8 billion in the farming budget over the course of this Parliament, with funding for ELM increasing from £800 million in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.
Data on the uptake and spend on individual actions in these schemes is regularly published and available at: Agri-environment scheme uptake data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 10 May 2023 to Question 183643 on Public Health, what methodologies were used to estimate the costs to the NHS for each of the five risk factors specified.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The applicable methodologies for the National Health Service cost attributed to each of the risk factors outlined are explained in the following reports.
The estimated air pollution related costs to the NHS can be found in the Public Health England report ‘Estimation of costs to the NHS and social care due to the health impacts of air pollution: summary report’ , from 2018, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-a-tool-to-estimate-healthcare-costs
An estimate of the NHS and healthcare costs of alcohol from 2021/22, produced by the Institute of Alcohol Studies, can be found at the following link:
https://www.ias.org.uk/factsheet/economy/
Estimated obesity related costs to the NHS can be found in the Frontier Economics report for NESTA, published in July 2025, ‘The Economic and Productivity Costs of Obesity and Overweight in the UK’, which is available at the following link:
Estimated Hypertension related costs to the NHS can be found in the Optimity Matrix Cost-effectiveness review of blood pressure interventions, ‘A Report to the Blood Pressure System Leadership Board’, published November 2014, available at the following link:
The most recent estimated smoking related costs to the NHS can be found in the press release, ‘New figures show cost of smoking to society in England dwarfs tobacco tax revenue’. This is available at the following link: