Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to extend drink driving offences to include a) persons on cycles, b) riding horses and c) in charge of horse drawn vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.
We are considering a range of policies under the new strategy; the first for 10 years. This includes the case for changing motoring offences such as drink driving.
We intend to publish by the end of the year.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent changes to (a) business rates relief, (b) VAT and (c) employer's National Insurance contributions on (i) small and medium-sized hospitality businesses and (ii) independent pubs and restaurants in rural constituencies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the vital role that all hospitality businesses play in supporting the UK’s economy and communities.
That is why, as set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties with ratable values below £500,000 from 2026-27. Ahead of the new multipliers being introduced, the Government prevented RHL business rates relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. By extending the RHL relief, the Government has saved the average pub, with a ratable value of £16,800, over £3,300. Without any Government intervention, the RHL relief would have ended entirely.
To ensure that key amenities are available, and that community assets are protected in rural areas, Rural Rates Relief provides 100% business rates relief for certain properties in eligible rural areas with populations below 3,000, including those that are the only public house, with a RV of up to £12,500.
The Employment Allowance has been more than doubled to £10,500, ensuring that over half of businesses with National Insurance liabilities, including those in the hospitality sector, will either gain or see no change this year. A Tax Information and Impact Note was published alongside changes to employer NICs, and the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts employment levels to increase over the coming years.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the minimum (a) English and (b) maths requirements to complete an apprenticeship; and whether he plans to review these requirements.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In February, the government introduced flexibilities around the English and maths requirements for apprentices in response to significant feedback from employers and providers.
Adults over 19 no longer need to achieve a standalone English and maths qualification on top of the apprenticeship, where their employer agrees this is not an essential part of their training. This will allow many thousands more apprentices to qualify each year, including in key sectors such as adult care, construction and early years.
Upskilling in English and maths remains a key feature of all apprenticeships. All apprentices will continue to be required to secure and be assessed on the job-specific English and maths skills they need as part of the apprenticeship standard.
Young apprentices who are aged 16-18 at the start of their apprenticeship continue to be required to achieve English and maths qualifications to put them in the best position to progress in their life and careers.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the criteria for parental involvement in decision-making for young people who lack mental capacity after becoming 18 years of age.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Anyone who wishes to make decisions for a person who lacks the mental capacity to do so for themselves must have the legal authority to act. The provisions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 reflect that principle and provide safeguards to protect the interests of persons who lack mental capacity.
Parents are often unaware they need legal authority to make decisions once their child reaches 18, when legal parental responsibility ends. The Government acknowledges this lack of awareness and in relation to property and finance has produced a toolkit ‘Making Financial decisions for young people who lack capacity’ to raise awareness: Making financial decisions for young people who lack capacity: A toolkit for parents and carers - GOV.UK.
Parents and carers can still be involved in decisions regarding the young person. Section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, outlines the principles for making decisions in a person’s best interests for whom they care and confirms that the decision maker should consult with anyone engaged in caring for the person as well as close family and friends.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available at age 18 to young people who were in care during early childhood before being (a) adopted or (b) placed under alternative permanency arrangements.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Young people who were in care before being adopted or placed under a Special Guardianship Order or Care Arrangements Order remain eligible for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund until the age of 21, or 25 if they have an education, health and care plan.
Adopted individuals aged 18 and over also have the legal right to access their birth and adoption records. Support is available through local authorities and registered adoption agencies to help them understand their adoption history and, where appropriate, reconnect with birth relatives.
Additionally, some children with kinship foster carers are entitled to leaving care support. This includes support from a Personal Adviser up to the age of 25, and support to engage in education, employment or training. This also includes providing continuity of support and relationships through the Staying Put programme and investing in family-finding, mentoring and befriending programmes.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 (a) improve access to migraine (i) diagnoses and (ii) treatment, (b) increase the availability of long-term specialist care for migraine patients and (c) raise awareness of migraine amongst primary care clinicians.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline, Headaches in over 12s: diagnosis and management, sets out best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people who suffer from headaches, including migraine. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches and migraine.
NICE updated its guideline in June 2025. Updates included a change to the strength of recommendations on treatments for migraine prevention to better reflect the balance between their benefits and harms, and incorporation of relevant technology appraisal guidance for treating and preventing migraine with or without aura.
At the national level, there are several initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraine, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit. The GIRFT programme published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraine by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraine, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.
The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraine and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraine and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.
Over the last four years, a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, has been made available on the National Health Service for the prevention and treatment of episodic and chronic migraines. On 15 May 2024, Atogepant became the latest CGRP inhibitor recommended by NICE for use as a preventive medication for the treatment of migraine.
A key priority for the Government is to cut waiting lists, including for patients with migraine. We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, including in neurology services. We have reduced the elective waiting list by over 206,000 since July 2024. Between July 2024 and June 2025, we have delivered 5.2 million additional appointments, many of which will have been for patients with migraine.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the support available to young people up to the age of 25 with education, health and care plans who are no longer accessing education.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As part of our Plan for Change we are determined to improve outcomes for young people. We will set out plans for SEND reform in our Schools White Paper.
We are already taking action to improve preparation for adulthood, including continuing to invest in supported internships by providing up to £12 million to March 2026, delivered through the Internships Work consortium, building on previous investment from 2022-25. Supported internships are a work-based study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an education health and care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so.
Arrangements under an EHC plan can continue up to age 25. As a young person is nearing the end of their time in formal education and their EHC plan is likely to be ceased within the next 12 months, the annual review should consider good exit planning.
Support, provision and outcomes should be agreed that will ensure the young person is supported to make a smooth transition to whatever they will be doing next, such as moving on to higher education, employment, independent living or adult care.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of ending the requirement for police to redact casefiles that are passed to the Crown Prosecution Service on (a) response times and (b) victim outcomes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Redaction is an important activity ensuring personal and sensitive information does not fall into the wrong hands. Any criminal justice process must ensure personal data is handled appropriately and lawfully, maintaining victim and witness confidence and public trust.
However, we recognise the administrative burden this places on policing at the pre-charge stage, especially for those cases that do not proceed to charge. The Policing Productivity Review estimated that over 200,000 hours could be saved by not redacting cases that do not progress beyond the Crown Prosecution Service.
Technology is key to reducing this burden, freeing up officer time for the frontline. For text redaction, automated tools are available on the market, which we understand that the majority of forces have now adopted, or are planning to implement.
Audio visual redaction of material such as body worn video, CCTV and audio recordings remains a challenge, as tools rely on more complex AI models and the market is less mature. However, Home Office-funded engagement with forces and suppliers has shown that AI-enabled tools are now available which offer significant time savings on audio visual redaction, used as part of an efficient operational process. In FY 2025/26, the Home Office is funding an initiative to improve policing’s audio visual redaction technology and processes, and we have developed guidance for all forces on how to make audio visual redaction more efficient.
We are also committed, working with criminal justice partners, to explore through process change how casefile redaction can be made as proportionate and efficient as possible, and will evaluate the impact of any changes.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) review and (b) update NHS Continuing Healthcare.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have asked my officials to work with partners including NHS England to review how National Health Service Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is being implemented and explore how this could be improved.
The Department continues to work with our partners to deliver CHC policy effectively and to ensure that people who are eligible receive it in a timely manner. Integrated care boards, who are responsible for the implementation of CHC with oversight from NHS England, must continue to have regard to our statutory guidance, the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care. This is available at the following link:
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing AI solutions to minimise the need for the police to redact case files shared with the CPS.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Redaction is an important activity ensuring personal and sensitive information does not fall into the wrong hands. Any criminal justice process must ensure personal data is handled appropriately and lawfully, maintaining victim and witness confidence and public trust.
However, we recognise the administrative burden this places on policing at the pre-charge stage, especially for those cases that do not proceed to charge. The Policing Productivity Review estimated that over 200,000 hours could be saved by not redacting cases that do not progress beyond the Crown Prosecution Service.
Technology is key to reducing this burden, freeing up officer time for the frontline. For text redaction, automated tools are available on the market, which we understand that the majority of forces have now adopted, or are planning to implement.
Audio visual redaction of material such as body worn video, CCTV and audio recordings remains a challenge, as tools rely on more complex AI models and the market is less mature. However, Home Office-funded engagement with forces and suppliers has shown that AI-enabled tools are now available which offer significant time savings on audio visual redaction, used as part of an efficient operational process. In FY 2025/26, the Home Office is funding an initiative to improve policing’s audio visual redaction technology and processes, and we have developed guidance for all forces on how to make audio visual redaction more efficient.
We are also committed, working with criminal justice partners, to explore through process change how casefile redaction can be made as proportionate and efficient as possible, and will evaluate the impact of any changes.