Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) Ofwat and (b) Thames Water on the potential merits of issuing penalties to Thames Water for alleged breaches of its license agreement in the context of its investment grade credit ratings.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The enforcement of licence conditions is a matter for Ofwat as the independent economic regulator. To remedy its licence breach in losing its investment grade credit ratings in 2024, Ofwat has confirmed it accepted an enforcement undertaking from Thames Water in August 2024 (Ofwat confirms actions for Thames Water following investment credit rating downgrade - Ofwat). These commitments will remain in place until the company regains two investment grade credit ratings.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the financial stability of Thames Water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The water white paper published on the 20 January sets out the Government’s plans to reform the water sector and the wider water system. It will create a new regulator with powers to prevent companies from accumulating unmanageable debts and to ensure the sector as a whole is financially resilient.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in doses of (a) insulin and (b) diabetic medication on driver license renewals.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) assesses licence applications from drivers using insulin or other diabetes medications based on the risk of hypoglycaemia and the stability of diabetes management.
Car and motorcycle drivers who use insulin must demonstrate adequate hypoglycaemic awareness and must not have experienced two or more episodes of severe hypoglycaemia in the previous 12 months. The most recent episode must have occurred more than three months prior to application. Drivers are also required to attend regular medical reviews and meet the statutory eyesight standards.
Drivers of lorries and buses are subject to more stringent medical requirements due to the size of their vehicles and the length of time they spend driving. They must have had no episodes of severe hypoglycaemia within the last 12 months, demonstrate full hypoglycaemic awareness, and provide medical evidence of stable diabetes control. This includes four weeks of glucose readings as part of an annual independent diabetes medical assessment when they apply for a licence.
All insulin-treated drivers must comply with glucose monitoring requirements, including checking glucose levels before driving and at regular intervals while driving. Monitoring may be undertaken using either finger-prick testing or continuous glucose monitoring systems, including Freestyle Libre.
For drivers using non-insulin diabetes medications, assessments focus on whether the treatment carries a risk of hypoglycaemia. Car and motorcycle drivers are required to notify the DVLA only if such a risk exists, while lorry and bus drivers must notify the DVLA of any diabetes medication use. In all cases, licence entitlement depends on evidence of stable diabetes management, appropriate monitoring, and effective hypoglycaemic control.
Changes to insulin or medication dosage do not automatically affect a person’s entitlement to drive.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will set out the process for driver licence renewals which are subject to the monitoring of blood sugar levels, including Freestyle Libre.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) assesses licence applications from drivers using insulin or other diabetes medications based on the risk of hypoglycaemia and the stability of diabetes management.
Car and motorcycle drivers who use insulin must demonstrate adequate hypoglycaemic awareness and must not have experienced two or more episodes of severe hypoglycaemia in the previous 12 months. The most recent episode must have occurred more than three months prior to application. Drivers are also required to attend regular medical reviews and meet the statutory eyesight standards.
Drivers of lorries and buses are subject to more stringent medical requirements due to the size of their vehicles and the length of time they spend driving. They must have had no episodes of severe hypoglycaemia within the last 12 months, demonstrate full hypoglycaemic awareness, and provide medical evidence of stable diabetes control. This includes four weeks of glucose readings as part of an annual independent diabetes medical assessment when they apply for a licence.
All insulin-treated drivers must comply with glucose monitoring requirements, including checking glucose levels before driving and at regular intervals while driving. Monitoring may be undertaken using either finger-prick testing or continuous glucose monitoring systems, including Freestyle Libre.
For drivers using non-insulin diabetes medications, assessments focus on whether the treatment carries a risk of hypoglycaemia. Car and motorcycle drivers are required to notify the DVLA only if such a risk exists, while lorry and bus drivers must notify the DVLA of any diabetes medication use. In all cases, licence entitlement depends on evidence of stable diabetes management, appropriate monitoring, and effective hypoglycaemic control.
Changes to insulin or medication dosage do not automatically affect a person’s entitlement to drive.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency use in the consideration of applications for licence renewals from drivers who take (a) insulin and (b) diabetes medication.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) assesses licence applications from drivers using insulin or other diabetes medications based on the risk of hypoglycaemia and the stability of diabetes management.
Car and motorcycle drivers who use insulin must demonstrate adequate hypoglycaemic awareness and must not have experienced two or more episodes of severe hypoglycaemia in the previous 12 months. The most recent episode must have occurred more than three months prior to application. Drivers are also required to attend regular medical reviews and meet the statutory eyesight standards.
Drivers of lorries and buses are subject to more stringent medical requirements due to the size of their vehicles and the length of time they spend driving. They must have had no episodes of severe hypoglycaemia within the last 12 months, demonstrate full hypoglycaemic awareness, and provide medical evidence of stable diabetes control. This includes four weeks of glucose readings as part of an annual independent diabetes medical assessment when they apply for a licence.
All insulin-treated drivers must comply with glucose monitoring requirements, including checking glucose levels before driving and at regular intervals while driving. Monitoring may be undertaken using either finger-prick testing or continuous glucose monitoring systems, including Freestyle Libre.
For drivers using non-insulin diabetes medications, assessments focus on whether the treatment carries a risk of hypoglycaemia. Car and motorcycle drivers are required to notify the DVLA only if such a risk exists, while lorry and bus drivers must notify the DVLA of any diabetes medication use. In all cases, licence entitlement depends on evidence of stable diabetes management, appropriate monitoring, and effective hypoglycaemic control.
Changes to insulin or medication dosage do not automatically affect a person’s entitlement to drive.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any British companies are involved in the (a) manufacture and (b) sale of cluster munitions.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the UK takes its obligations seriously and continues to fulfil them. The UK takes a comprehensive approach across government and globally to directly tackle the issue of cluster munitions, including adopting national legislation. The UK Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Act 2010 which was introduced by the then Labour government, created criminal offences banning the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions (Article 9).
As a consequence, the manufacture of cluster munitions is prohibited in the UK. The export of such munitions is also subject to the strictest controls. Such exports would only be permitted in order for such munitions to be destroyed, for training in detection or disposal, or for development of counter-measures.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the licensing regime for shotgun ownership on the rural economy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.