Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects to publish details of the funding allocations and capital investment for neighbourhood health centres and community hospitals, including Fielding Palmer Hospital in Leicestershire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of upgrades to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new build sites opening in the medium term.
The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through a mixture of public private partnerships and public capital. 50 of these will be delivered through upgrades and 70 will be new builds.
The 2025 Spending Review settlement provides £426 million over four years for improvements in the primary care estate. Up to half of this funding will support upgrades to existing buildings to deliver NHCs this Parliament. Further information on NHCs and funding will be published over the coming months
At a local level, National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards are responsible for delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for services, including managing the local capital budget for their areas, and allocating funds according to local priorities, such as investment in healthcare facilities.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to launch the consultation on proposals for Local Government Reorganisation in Leicestershire.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As announced in my Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February HCWS1309, the consultation for the remaining areas in the local government reorganisation programme, including Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, has now launched.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce delays in reinstating driving licences following medical clearance.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. However, driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer as they vary widely in complexity and the DVLA is often reliant on information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.
The DVLA is currently rolling out a new casework system, scheduled to be operational in March 2026, which is expected to deliver significant improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions. When fully implemented, this will provide improved turnaround times, increased capacity, increased automation, higher levels of digital functionality and increased digital communication. To reduce call waiting times and to support customers, the DVLA is also increasing staffing levels in its contact centre.
Applicants renewing an existing licence may be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing the driver can meet specific criteria. More information on this can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1180997/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.pdf.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to bring forward legislation to ban the use of lead in ammunition; when the three‑year transition period is scheduled to begin; and if her Department will publish confirmation of the scope of the policy including exemptions.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government intends to bring forward legislation, as stated in our Environmental Improvement Plan. The transition period begins once the amendment comes into force via statutory instrument. The scope of the policy is set out in the decision report and draft amendment, viewable on GOV.uk via the following link: UK REACH restriction for lead in ammunition, 27 June 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage exam boards to offer the British Sign Language GCSE.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government, working with the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), has developed the content and assessment arrangements for a new British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE.
Now that Ofqual’s final qualification rules have been published, exam boards are able to develop detailed specifications which will form the basis of course content to be taught in schools and colleges.
Decisions on whether to develop qualification specifications are for exam boards, and any specifications developed by exam boards will need to be accredited by Ofqual before they are available to schools.
I have written to the exam boards to encourage them to seize the opportunity to offer this important qualification.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of service reliability on annual passenger footfall at Narborough Station since 2019.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Unreliable rail services disrupt passengers’ journeys and undermine passenger confidence. This is why we are taking steps to improve train service performance across the country to better deliver for passengers. Passenger numbers across all CrossCountry routes are similar to those that were seen in 2019. Office of Rail and Road figures show growth in demand at Narborough station, with an estimated 240,000 entries and exits in the 2023-24 financial year. This is an increase of 32,000 on the year before.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) reliability and (b) punctuality of CrossCountry services operating between Birmingham, Leicester and Stansted Airport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
CrossCountry train services were not reliable enough in 2024 and the operator was subject to a Remedial Plan from August 2024 to March 2025. Since January 2025, CrossCountry train service performance has generally improved, although issues remain on Sundays. The Rail Minister has met CrossCountry Directors who are well aware that there is more for them to do. A new senior management team at CrossCountry is taking steps to address underlying issues within the business. We expect to see improvements for passengers, and will continue to hold the operator to account for delivery of the contractual performance benchmarks.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has received proposals on improving the (a) reliability, (b) capacity and (c) frequency of services serving Narborough station from CrossCountry.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We expect operators to plan services balancing the need to meet expected passenger demand, improve train service performance, be affordable and provide value for money for taxpayers. Office of Rail and Road station statistics show that service reliability at Narborough has generally improved in the eight weeks to 13 September 2025. Officials monitor CrossCountry performance closely and will continue to hold them to account for delivery of the contractual performance benchmarks.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with CrossCountry on increasing capacity on (a) peak services between Leicester and Narborough and (b) the 17:18 weekday service from Leicester to Birmingham.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In December 2024, CrossCountry removed First Class accommodation from the trains used on the Birmingham to Stansted Airport route, increasing the number of seats available to all ticket holders. All operators are expected to plan capacity on individual services to best match the expected level of demand, whilst making efficient use of the train fleet and train crew resources available to them. Officials are working with CrossCountry to develop a business case to further expand their Inter-City train fleet.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of technical support offered by technology companies to people who report cyber crime incidents affecting their products.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act (2022) places a legal obligation on the manufacturers of internet-connected devices to offer a vulnerability reporting process. This means anyone - including users, security researchers and cyber crime victims - must have a clear, secure way to report vulnerabilities to device manufacturers. The Act also places a legal obligation on device manufacturers to support their products with software and security updates for a defined period.
Technical support for cyber crime victims is not regulated under the Act. Victims should report cyber crimes to the police via the Action Fraud website or phone line.