Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support local councils in dealing with emergency road closures by utilities companies; and whether she plans to allow highways authorities to extend working hours in such situations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that emergency street works by utilities companies are managed efficiently and with minimal disruption to local communities. Highway authorities already have effective powers under the current legislative framework to coordinate and oversee such works, including emergency road closures. We continue to review and strengthen these regulations to ensure they remain proportionate and effective, and we remain committed to working closely with local authorities, utilities, and stakeholders to deliver a modern and accountable street works regime.
Emergency works are undertaken under an immediate permit to address or prevent circumstances that are existing or imminent and pose a risk to people or property. These works must commence without delay, at any time, and are exempt from the standard working hours that apply to planned works.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that additional NHS funding leads to pay rises for (a) nurses and (b) other frontline staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has remitted the independent pay review bodies (PRBs) to begin their work on pay recommendations for 2026/27 for nurses and other frontline National Health Service staff. The Government will carefully consider the PRB recommendations, which is the usual process to determine pay uplifts for NHS workers. As part of this process, the PRBs consider the evidence submitted, including a range of factors such as the economic context and the available funding.
We hugely appreciate the work of the many talented staff across the NHS, which is why on 22 May 2025, we accepted the headline pay recommendations for 2025/26 made by the PRBs giving them a much deserved, above-inflation, pay rise.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve care for people with Huntington's disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The revised NHS England Specialised Neurology Services (adults) Specification 2025 outlines a comprehensive model of care, detailing the requirements for specialised neurology services but also outlining the expectations of a system wide approach. It articulates how patients should move into and out of specialised neurology services, including patients with Huntington’s disease, incorporating end to end pathways within an Integrated Neurology System.
The NHSE Specialised Commissioning Neurology Transformation Team (NTP) have also produced a number of guidance documents to support the implementation of the revised service specification. This includes developing a neurology transformation toolkit, which outlines the impact of care coordination and case management functions in supporting more equitable and efficient care for people with long-term neurological diseases, including Huntington’s disease.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what date he plans to introduce free independent legal advice for adult rape victims.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government continues to progress the manifesto commitment to introduce free independent legal advice (ILA) for victims of adult rape, to help them understand and feel confident in their legal rights.
ILAs will be able to help victims with issues including understanding their rights, understanding what constitutes a reasonable Third-Party Material or digital material request, assisting with complaint applications, compensation claims, and the Victim’s Right to Review scheme.
We will be making further announcements about our plans for the rollout of this service in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what estimate she has made of the number of additional Crown prosecutors that will be required to help reduce violence against women and girls.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) National Operating Model (NOM) for adult rape prosecutions and the CPS-Police Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan (DA JJP) are central to improving outcomes in cases involving violence against women and girls (VAWG). These initiatives rely on dedicated, specially trained prosecutors working across a range of CPS Units, including Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units, Magistrates Units, and Crown Court Units.
The latest Spending Review settlement for the CPS reflects the Government’s commitment to protecting the public through independent and fair prosecutions. It will provide record investment into the CPS, with total funding reaching £1 billion in 2028-29 to help bring more offenders to justice.
The additional £95.8m over the Spending Review period will allow CPS to increase the number of prosecutors and people on the frontline delivering justice, including in CPS’s specialist Rape and Serious Sexual Offence units, and to improve their services to victims and witnesses. The CPS continues to monitor demand and resource requirements closely to ensure effective delivery of its commitments.
The forthcoming CPS VAWG Strategy, due for publication later this year, sets out to improve prosecution effectiveness and build victim trust, including updated legal guidance, enhanced specialist training, and targeted action plans for specific offence types such as stalking and honour-based abuse. The strategy reflects the CPS’ commitment to supporting the Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his planned timetable is for the operation of specialist courts to fast-track rape cases.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government is committed to improving victims’ experience of the justice system. We commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to propose bold and ambitious measures to deliver swifter justice for victims, including for victims of sexual violence, in his Independent Review of Criminal Courts. Work on Part 2 of the report, which is looking at how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, is underway. We expect it to be finalised this year. We are considering how we can deliver our manifesto commitment alongside this work.
We are also committed to tackling the outstanding caseload to improve timeliness - we have already doubled magistrates’ sentencing powers, so that Crown Courts can focus on the most serious cases, and this year we have funded a record-high allocation of 111,250 Crown Court sitting days.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Tribunal system reforms to speed up asylum decisions, published on 24 August 2025, whether she plans to stipulate time limits for dealing with cases.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Tribunal system reforms to speed up asylum decisions, published on 24 August 2025, whether first-tier tribunal judges of the immigration and asylum chamber will be permitted to work as professionally-trained adjudicators at the proposed new independent body.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Tribunal system reforms to speed up asylum decisions, published on 24 August 2025, whether her Department plans to use primary legislation to (a) establish and (b) give full powers to the proposed new independent body to make decisions on asylum appeal cases.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Tribunal system reforms to speed up asylum decisions, published on 24 August 2025, how long she expects it will take to train an adjudicator to make decisions on asylum appeal cases.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament.