Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) whether her Department has assessed the risk that allowing individual GP practices discretion over the scope of proxy access granted to parents and guardians of children aged 11 to 15 results in inconsistent access to health information across England; (b) what assessment she has made of the risk that parents and guardians may be excluded from their child's records where local practice policy requires the child's real-time telephone consent and the child is unable to provide this independently, including where the child is autistic or has another condition affecting their ability to do so; and (c) what steps her Department is taking to mitigate these risks.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is guidance from NHS England for GP practices on using GP electronic records which cover arrangements for young people, and which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/digital-gp-good-practice-guidance/
There is also guidance available from the Royal College of General Practitioners.
These are designed to provide a consistent approach to proxy access, balancing the management of risks and ensuring good clinical governance.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the Answer of 10 June 2026 to Question 6814, whether her Department has set a target for the number of public chargers to be in place by 2030.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has no set target for number of public chargers to be in place by 2030. In practice the number of public chargers would vary due to demand, types of charger and charging behaviours alongside other factors. We continue to closely monitor charge point rollout.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria UK Visas and Immigration applies when deciding whether an application contains compelling or compassionate factors that warrant expedition, whether those criteria take account of (a) disruption to a child’s education and (b) family separation, and if she will publish that guidance.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Visa applications are assessed on their individual merits and caseworkers will consider any compassionate grounds raised as part of the application assessment. Published policy guidance for each visa route will factor this where relevant. Caseworker guidance for each visa type can be found here: Visas and immigration operational guidance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the RE national curriculum gives pupils a balanced understanding of religious and non-religious beliefs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that non-religious worldviews, including humanism, can play an important role in supporting pupils’ understanding of beliefs and values. Religious education (RE) is not part of the national curriculum but is a mandatory subject for all pupils aged 5 to 18 in state-funded schools in England. Schools should deliver RE in an objective, critical and pluralistic way and already have the flexibility, through their locally agreed syllabuses, to include the study of non-religious beliefs, such as humanism.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review recommended that government should explore the inclusion of RE in the national curriculum, contingent on the sector reaching a consensus. The sector group has reached a consensus and the department will consult on a draft RE curriculum in line with the national curriculum consultation.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the barriers for people whose medical trauma prevents them from attending GP appointments and other healthcare settings; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that such individuals are able to access healthcare, local authority services and other support.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that medical trauma can make attending general practice (GP) appointments and other healthcare settings difficult, creating barriers to healthcare.
To support access, GPs are required under their National Health Service contracts to offer parity across booking routes, including in person, by telephone, and through online consultation tools. This enables patients, including those for whom medical trauma makes attending the practice difficult, to use the route that best meets their needs.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of whether Work Coach and Disability Employment Adviser support is effective for people with a visual impairment, and whether any evaluation has looked at differences in outcomes of such support between people with different types of disability.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to ensuring disabled people, including those who are blind or visually impaired, can access appropriate support from Jobcentre Plus.
All staff complete mandatory learning on the Public Sector Equality Duty, including the protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act and the Department’s responsibilities for providing reasonable adjustments. Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers receive further learning on disability, its potential impact on customers and the practical steps they can take to provide appropriate support. This includes specific content on blindness and visual impairment, helping colleagues understand the barriers customers may face and the support and reasonable adjustments available.
Disability Employment Advisers provide specialist support, helping Work Coaches and Pathways to Work Advisers tailor support to individual customer needs. They can also work directly with customers and engage with employers, local communities and third-sector organisations to help facilitate appropriate local support and promote initiatives including Disability Confident, WorkWell, Connect to Work and Access to Work.
The Department has also worked with Microsoft to develop Accessibility Fundamentals learning, delivered to over 25,000 frontline colleagues, to improve understanding of how Microsoft accessibility tools can support disabled jobseekers. Every Jobcentre also has access to a District Provision Toolkit, providing links to local specialist support for customers with a range of complex needs and circumstances.
We continue to engage disability organisations through the Reasonable Adjustment Forum, using their insight to identify, test and recommend improvements to the accessibility of our services. This has included working with organisations representing a range of disabled people to improve the accessibility and language of the alternative-format screen in Universal Credit.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the legal costs that may be incurred in relation to ongoing litigation brought by the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We estimate that the legal costs on litigation brought by Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) in the Administrative Court will be in the region of £120,000 plus VAT. Final costs will depend on the progression and outcome of the litigation.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made and assessment of the potential merits of a national badge for parent and child parking spaces with eligibility checked through child benefit.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has has made of the potential merits of providing schools with guidance on teaching pupils about the risks, symptoms and prevention of carbon monoxide poisoning; and what discussions she has had on incorporating carbon monoxide awareness education into the PSHE curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the importance of ensuring that pupils understand how to keep themselves and others safe. The revised statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education, which came into effect on 1 September 2026, includes new content on personal safety. While it does not prescribe teaching specifically about carbon monoxide poisoning, schools have flexibility to include this within their wider personal, social, health and economic education provision, in response to pupils’ needs and local public health priorities.
The department has not made a specific assessment of the merits of issuing additional guidance on carbon monoxide awareness or adding it to the statutory curriculum. The department will continue to keep the statutory guidance under review.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's proposed increase in statutory fees on micro-businesses in the dental laboratory sector; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a tiered fee structure based on business size.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has conducted a public consultation on its proposed fee changes, and is currently assessing responses to that consultation. Further details can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/mhra-consultation-on-statutory-fees-2026