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 made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing mutual recognition of commercial pilot licences between the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency; and what steps she is taking to help streamline the current licence conversion process for European Union Aviation Safety Agency-qualified pilots seeking to work in the UK.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Government has been clear that it will work to reset the relationship with Europe, to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. Agreements on UK-EU licensing recognition must be established through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and agreed by the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The Government continues to seek expansions to the Aviation Safety Chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement where appropriate. An effective aviation licensing regime that supports UK aviation remains a priority, and the UK is keen to establish closer cooperation on personnel licensing where possible to ease the current burden on UK and EU personnel and industry.
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, what funding strategies his Department is considering to ensure hospices remain (a) competitive and (b) sustainable.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include the hospice services available within the ICB catchment.
As set out in the Government’s recently published 10-Year Health Plan, we are determined to shift more care out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end of life care services, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift, and were highlighted in the plan as being an integral part of neighbourhood teams.
I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all- age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan. The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end-of-life care services to support a reduction in variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
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, what steps his Department plans to take to support hospices to (a) attract and (b) retain their workforce.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services. As independent organisations, charitable hospices are responsible for their own recruitment and employment terms. They are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including the pay scales. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate.
We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The funding will alleviate immediate pressures on hospice finances, enabling them to invest in infrastructure over the longer term. It will allow hospices to create an improved physical environment with enhanced facilities and will allow them to focus their attention and wider resources on providing the best quality care to patients.
Some hospices, however, are NHS services. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create an NHS workforce in England ready to deliver a transformed service. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it. From now on, we will ensure that staff will be better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an independent appeal or review mechanism for complainants who are dissatisfied with decisions made by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's decisions on complaints are typically final, and can only be challenged through the courts on points of law. The government has no plans to change this.
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, what steps he has taken to offer farmers badger vaccination in 2025 to tackle bTB in wildlife populations.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Badger vaccination is proven to significantly reduce the risk of infection and spread of disease within badger populations. The Government is committed to strengthening the evidence on how badger vaccination reduces TB in cattle. We know this is crucial for giving the wider farming industry confidence that participating in badger vaccination will have a positive effect on their cattle.
We are working with a range of organisations to continue the rollout of badger vaccination in England. This includes large-scale vaccination delivery by Animal and Plant Health (APHA) field teams, and an industry delivered vaccination approach in East Sussex. This work is demonstrating that large scale vaccination of badgers is practical, including in previously culled areas.
As part of the announcement of the start of work on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy, the Government also outlined several actions it is taking immediately to underpin the policy with robust science and further increase badger vaccination at pace. This is available at the link below and includes:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-badger-cull-with-new-tb-eradication-strategy.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that British nationals who are the victims of violent attacks are adequately supported by the British Embassy in Portugal; and whether his Department plans to issue travel advice on the risk of violence towards British nationals by private security personnel.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the UK's embassies, high commissions and consulates provide consular support to British nationals abroad. We are contactable 24/7, 365 days a year, around the world. In Portugal, we have staff based in Lisbon and Portimao who provide consular assistance to British nationals who require it, including victims of crime. FCDO travel advice reflects our latest assessment of risks to British nationals, including from crime.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the regulation of televised advertisements depicting (a) violent imagery, (b) knifes and (c) other weapons during family viewing hours; and what steps she is taking to ensure such content does not undermine public messaging around knife crime prevention.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Although we have not had specific such conversations with Ofcom, we take the issue seriously. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) co-regulates broadcast advertising under contract with Ofcom and its sister organisation, the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, sets the advertising codes. The Code requires that advertisements do not cause serious offence or harm, particularly to children under the age of 18, distress the audience without justifiable reason, or condone or encourage violence, crime, disorder or anti-social behaviour. Adverts for offensive weapons are considered unacceptable, and violent material must not be advertised in or adjacent to programmes targeted particularly at audiences below the age of 18. All broadcast advertising is required to be pre-approved through the Clearcast system before it is aired.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that armed forces veterans are given priority status on local authority housing registers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are responsible for designing and managing their own housing allocations policies to meet local need within the framework of legislation under which certain categories of people must be given priority.
By law, local authorities must give ‘additional preference’ (high priority) to veterans where they fall within one or more of the ‘reasonable preference’ (priority) categories and have urgent housing needs. Social housing allocations guidance can be found on gov.uk here.
In addition, we have made changes to social housing allocations regulations to exempt all veterans from local connection and residency tests, where these apply, to facilitate their access to social housing. The regulations came into force on 18 December 2024.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of homelessness among armed forces veterans; and what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help prevent veterans from becoming homeless after leaving the military.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This is a Government that will always stand up for those who serve our country. I am working across Government to ensure veterans across the UK have access to the support they need on housing, as well as health, employment and other areas.
In November 2024 the Prime Minister announced an additional £3.5 million for the cross-UK Reducing Veterans Homelessness Programme, including Op FORTITUDE. This is in addition to the reforms which mean that veterans are now exempt from local connection and residency tests when applying for social housing in England.
This Government has removed local connection requirements for veterans applying for social housing, ensuring that those who have served our nation can access housing where they choose to.
We are taking a cross-Government approach to tackling homelessness more broadly, developing a strategy alongside Mayors and Councils across the country, to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness. I attend the regular meetings chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister to represent veterans in the formulation of this strategy.
Finally, the Defence Housing Strategy will turbocharge the development of surplus military land, supporting the delivery of affordable homes for families across Britain as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
Through these measures, the Government is ensuring that homes will be there for heroes.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to bring forward proposals to (a) support and (b) incentivise the resale of retirement or sheltered housing units.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 40972 on 1 April 2025.