Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing an adjusted rate of tax for army reservists that is separate to their civilian incomes.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government fully supports Reservists in volunteering for service alongside their regular employment. Accordingly, Reservists are eligible for an annual tax-free lump sum. Information on this can be found on the Army Reserves pay and benefits webpage. We keep our policies and processes under constant review, to ensure that they attract people to serve and incentivise them to stay.
Introducing a separate, adjusted rate of tax for army reservists’ income would add complexity to the tax system and be costly at a time when the Government has already had to take a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to restore economic stability, fix the public finances, and support public services.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to reduce the backlog of driving tests.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.
Since this announcement DVSA has:
Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the merits of modernising the licensing system for forestry operations to provide greater protection for ancient woodlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
England’s trees and woodlands are protected by a number of regulatory regimes. These include the felling licence regime, the environmental impact assessment regulations, tree preservation orders, sites of special scientific interest and the planning regime.
Defra recently conducted and published a review into how ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees are protected by the National Planning Policy Framework. We are working to take forward the findings.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that victims of cardiac arrest are immediately referred to the cardiac rehabilitation programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In December 2024, to support local systems to commission high quality cardiac rehabilitation, NHS England published the document, Commissioning standards for cardiac rehabilitation. This document is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standards-for-cardiovascular-rehabilitation/
These standards of care complement the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation’s Standards and Core Components document, published in 2023, to support the delivery of high-quality care and adherence to evidenced-based practice. More information is available at the following link:
Patients who survive cardiac arrest and their families are supported through referral to local services within the National Health Service; this will include rehabilitation such as cardiac and neurological rehabilitation and mental health services for psychological support.
There are different pathways for cardiac arrest survivors, depending on the severity of the damage caused by the cardiac arrest. For people being discharged from secondary care and those with ischemic heart disease, namely myocardial infarction, cardiac rehabilitation services are available in every region. For this reason, the Government does not currently have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on this issue.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require employers to provide cyber security training, in the context of the recent cyber security incidents in the retail sector.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The cyber security of the UK economy is a priority, which is why the government already offers free cyber security training via the National Cyber Security Centre website. This includes the “Top Tips for Staff”, an online, accessible cyber security training package for organisations of all sizes and sectors, and the new Cyber Governance Code of Practice, which includes a training package to help boards and directors manage digital risks in their organisations. More widely, the government offers a range of guidance to help organisations improve their cyber resilience and many of these products recommend staff training. Existing legislation - including the Security of Network & Information Systems Regulations (2018) and the Data Protection Act (2018) - includes recommendations for organisations in scope to provide appropriate training for their staff. This year we will introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to improve UK cyber defences and better secure our essential services and the IT infrastructure they rely upon. Later this year, the government will publish a new National Cyber Strategy setting out how we will approach the challenges and opportunities of cyber security.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of allowing paramedics to prescribe oxycodone.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals. This will support the aim that patients are cared for and treated by the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care.
Regarding the extension of paramedics’ medicine responsibilities, there is a process in place for making changes to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. Officials are carefully considering proposals relating to a range of healthcare professionals, including paramedics, as a part of wider work building on work delivered by the Chief Professions Officers’ medicines mechanisms programme.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mandating internet service providers to charge existing customers the same as new ones.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government continues to work closely with Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications, to ensure customers are empowered to navigate the telecoms market and find the best deals for their needs.
A range of measures have been implemented, for example since 2020 Ofcom has required providers to issue end-of–contract notifications. These alert customers when their contract/discounts are ending, encouraging them to secure better deals.
The Government has no plans to mandate providers to charge new and existing customers the same price, however we will continue to work with Ofcom to monitor the market to ensure that consumers are receiving fair deals.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take legislative steps to ban disposable barbeques.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has no plans to ban disposable barbeques at present. Local authorities already have powers to apply local bans on council or public land. It would also be a crime to litter a disposable barbecue for which councils have powers to issue fixed penalty notices (on-the-spot fines) of up to £500 or prosecute.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the minimum floor cap for self-employed individuals receiving universal credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) encourages self-employed customers to progress in work and grow their earnings to a sustainable level.
The Government has committed to reviewing Universal Credit to ensure it is supporting the Government’s objectives to make work pay and tackle poverty.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to make government digital services accessible to people in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The new digital centre exists to enable Departments to deliver digital public services that work for everyone. GDS guide, monitor and assure all digital public services, incentivising departments to provide support for service users with low digital skills or limited access to the web.
Through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing to deliver broadband and mobile connectivity to hard-to-reach areas with limited or low coverage.