Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether further regulations will be brought before the House regarding the abolition of the Lifetime Allowance.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has already legislated to abolish the Lifetime Allowance from 6 April 2024 and has brought forward a number of regulations to ensure the legislation operates as intended.
Most recently, the Pensions (Abolition of Lifetime Allowance Charge etc.) Regulations 2026 were laid before the House on Monday using the made affirmative procedure. These Regulations will be brought before the House for parliamentary scrutiny prior to coming into force at the end of this month.
The Government has used its regulation-making powers to address technical and consequential issues arising from the abolition of the Lifetime Allowance, ensuring the tax framework functions as intended. The existing power to make further consequential regulations expires at the end of this month.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to announce the shortlisted places for the UK Town of Culture 2028 Competition.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are delighted by the energy and enthusiasm the UK Town of Culture competition has generated amongst towns. We previously told applicants that we would announce the shortlist in Spring. As a result of the exceptional response we have received, the expert advisory panel require additional time to assess all of the bids. We will now announce the shortlisted towns by the end of July.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his department has provided to (a) establish a medical school at the University of Derby, and (b) to do so in time for the 2027/28 academic year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government welcomes the University of Derby’s commitment to establishing a medical school and to supporting the local community and boosting social mobility.
It is for the independent regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC), to approve new medical schools. The GMC has a clear set out processes that all prospective medical schools need to follow in order to receive approval to admit students and ultimately be added to the list of bodies that can award a Primary Medical Qualification.
The Government caps the number of places that it funds for each medical and dental school in England. We have not yet confirmed specific plans to make further places available, but were we to do so then we would run a bidding process led by the Office for Students, which all eligible medical schools would be invited to participate in.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to introduce new consumer protections against rogue traders.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government is committed to protecting consumers from rogue traders. Consumer legislation already sets out standards consumers should expect when a trader supplies goods and services, as well as remedies if these rights are breached.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 further strengthens consumer law enforcement. For example, enforcers such as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) can apply to the courts to impose penalties when dealing with consumer law breaches.
Furthermore, the Act allows the CMA to impose monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover for substantive breaches of consumer law without having to go through the courts.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to stabilise the supply of progesterone and other hormone replacement therapy medications.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are over 70 hormone replacement therapy products, and the vast majority are in good supply.
We are aware of ongoing intermittent supply issues affecting Estradot (estradiol) patches due to global supply disruptions of this product. We continue to regularly engage with the supplier to expedite deliveries and stabilise supply where possible. We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals and Serious Shortage Protocols to enable community pharmacists to supply specified alternative estradiol patches, with the patient’s consent and without needing to seek authorisation from the prescriber.
We continue to work with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and Specialist Importers to source unlicensed estradiol and testosterone implants. We are not aware of supply issues with progesterone 100 milligram capsules which is licensed for hormone replacement therapy.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support women who require hormone replacement therapy medication for management of long-term health conditions.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the significant impact that menopause symptoms can have on women’s health, wellbeing, and daily lives. Improving support for women experiencing menopause is an important part of the Government’s wider work on women’s health.
The hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription prepayment certificate covers eligible HRT medicines containing oestrogen and/or progesterone that are licensed for the treatment of menopause. It is valid for 12 months, costs £19.80, and can reduce costs for patients who need more than one prescription.
As announced in October, local authorities will be asked to include menopause in the NHS Health Check later this year. This will signpost eligible women in England to information on menopause, including symptom management, support, and diagnosis. Menopause and menstrual health conditions will also be priorities for the National Health Service’s new online hospital, due to launch next year, to improve access to specialist care.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her Department holds on what proportion of driving test bookings involved the initial driving licence number on the booking form being subsequently changed, in each month since January 2015.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The attached spreadsheet provides data on the number bookings made and the number of bookings, including percentage, of practical driving test bookings where the initial test candidate’s driving licence number was subsequently changed to a different driving test candidate’s licence number* in each month since January 2015 to March 2025.
The table below provides this information from April 2025 to April 2026.
Month Year | Total Bookings made | Number bookings where the licence number was changed (swaps) | Percentage of bookings where the licence number was changed |
April 2025 | 222119 | 54446 | 24.5% |
May 2025 | 231536 | 55574 | 24.0% |
June 2025 | 239148 | 53658 | 22.4% |
July 2025 | 191291 | 50750 | 26.5% |
August 2025 | 220967 | 50630 | 22.9% |
September 2025 | 248295 | 58554 | 23.6% |
October 2025 | 219224 | 60856 | 27.8% |
November 2025 | 231591 | 56494 | 24.4% |
December 2025 | 225402 | 51056 | 22.7% |
January 2026 | 242818 | 59152 | 24.4% |
February 2026 | 237499 | 54180 | 22.8% |
March 2026 | 266772 | 61018 | 22.9% |
April 2026 | 233645 | 39608 | 17.0% |
* The number of bookings made does not equate to the number of practical driving tests conducted. Not all test bookings result in a test being conducted.
Also, the number of swaps for a given month are not necessarily tests booked the same month. i.e. tests swapped in April 2025 are not necessarily tests booked in April 2025.
The DVSA has implemented new policies so that, since 12 May, only learner drivers are legally able to book a car practical driving test or make changes to a test. Further details can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/changes-to-driving-test-booking-rules-in-2026.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of school budgets on workforce decisions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We are investing an extra £1.7 billion into schools in the 2026/27 financial year, including funding for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform announced in the Schools White Paper. We are now more than 60% of the way towards our ambitious target of recruiting 6,500 new expert teachers in our secondary and special schools and further education colleges by the end of this parliament.
Schools have autonomy over their budgets and are best placed to take employment and recruitment decisions based on their own needs and context. We have published tools and guidance to help schools and trusts plan and deploy their workforce effectively to maximise value for pupils, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-workforce-planning-for-schools-and-trusts.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her department has to improve retention of experienced and senior teachers in mainstream schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Retaining experienced teachers is at the heart of the government’s pledge for 6,500 additional expert teachers. Details of the delivery plan were published in February and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving/6500-additional-teachers-delivery-plan-html-version.
Our plan included a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for eligible teachers in key subjects, above-inflation pay increase of almost 10% awarded over two years, and development of resources to support teacher workload and wellbeing, including the ‘Improve Workload and Wellbeing’ service.
As announced in the Schools White Paper, we will invest in a new teacher retention programme that provides training, resources and peer support to help schools learn from each other. We will also extend the national professional development offer so there is training at every stage, introducing new professional development programmes for experienced teachers and leaders. We are also investing £1 million additional funding each year for wellbeing support, providing up to 2,500 leaders annually with a safe and confidential space to develop new strategies to manage their resilience and capacity to thrive in their role.
Our interventions are having impact and the latest data shows that teacher leaver rates have fallen to one of the lowest rates on record, to 9.0% in the 2023/24 academic year.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she has made on improving the process by which people can apply for and obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to protecting trans people, ensuring that they are treated with dignity and respect.
We have already delivered our manifesto commitment to equalise all existing strands of hate crime to ensure that hate crime committed on the basis of sexual orientation, transgender identity, sex or disability is treated equally seriously to that committed on the basis of race or religion. Our next priorities are improving trans healthcare and, as set out in the King’s Speech, to bring forward a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices.