Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with schools on the potential impact of branded school uniform policies on families; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools comply with the statutory guidance entitled Cost of school uniforms, published on 19 November 2021.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Whilst many schools are taking action to reduce costs, too many families tell us that the cost of school uniform remains a financial burden. The department’s research shows that the average cost of uniform is significantly lower when parents can buy items from somewhere other than a designated shop or school. This research is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms-survey-2023.
The government has introduced legislation through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to limit the number of compulsory branded items schools can require, to remove the cost of uniform as a barrier to pupils accessing school and activities in school.
We estimate that requiring fewer branded items from designated suppliers could save some parents over £50 per child during the back to school shop once the uniform limit comes into effect.
The department has statutory guidance on the ‘Cost of school uniforms’, and schools must have regard to it when designing and implementing their uniform policies. We expect all schools to now be compliant.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 59177 on Broadband: Coastal Areas and Rural Areas, whether the reported 95 percent coverage achieved by the Shared Rural Network will be reviewed using Ofcom’s forthcoming reporting methodology based on a 5 Mbps threshold.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The previously agreed coverage thresholds for the Shared Rural Network were designed to reflect the level of service required to make calls and access online services in areas that previously had little to no service. This remains the baseline for the programme. We will continue to work with the mobile network operators to ensure that the improved connectivity we are putting in place meets the needs of rural communities.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice,what the backlog in County Court cases is in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, and what steps her Department is taking to tackle it.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is not possible to measure ‘backlog’ within the County Courts due to the nature of Civil claims with many claims settling between parties. The pace of such cases is very often determined by the choices and behaviour of the parties.
Our focus across Hertfordshire is to progress the cases in as timely a way as possible whilst balancing the individual circumstances and needs of each case. The Designated Family Judge and Designated Civil Judge along with HM Courts & Tribunals Service, have implemented robust listing and case progression initiatives. Cases are reviewed so that court hearing time is maximised, waiting times are reduced and matters that are suitable for the hearing to be brought forward are prioritised. This is achieved by utilising courtroom capacity that becomes available from other cases resolving.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 ensure mobile network operators cannot invoke the all reasonable efforts clause to avoid penalties under the Shared Rural Network agreement in (a) remote and (b) total not-spot areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Shared Rural Network programme is underpinned by licence obligations enforced by Ofcom. Under the licences, the mobile network operators can only invoke the reasonable endeavours clauses under specific circumstances, by providing evidence to Ofcom, and would do so at their own discretion. Ofcom will make any assessment of whether any such claims are valid at a key delivery deadline of January 2027. This is an independent process facilitated by Ofcom and it would not be appropriate for the Department to intervene and take steps to stop the operators invoking the reasonable endeavours clauses.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support businesses to invest in skills and training in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s Industrial Strategy outlines key interventions to boost employer engagement with the skills system. These include:
This investment will be supported by stronger employer partnerships, including the launch of technical excellence colleges to build local talent pipelines.
Additionally, the chair of Skills England, alongside the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, will explore how employers, individuals and government can collaborate to meet national skills needs and drive future job growth.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to issue a formal definition of a Large Built-Up Area for the purposes of planning decisions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities (LPAs) must necessarily exercise judgement to interpret and apply national planning policy to their particular local circumstances.
The government published revised Green Belt guidance on 27 February 2025, to help LPAs review their Green Belt and identify grey belt land. This guidance sets out key considerations for informing judgements on the contribution land makes to checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of increasing the proportion of (a) police, (b) fire and (c) other emergency service vehicles that are fitted with defibrillators.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department for Health and Social Care has confirmed that all ambulances carry defibrillators. Provision of defibrillators in police and fire vehicles is an operational matter for either the individual police force or fire and rescue service to determine at local level.
The Home Office recently purchased over 500 defibrillators to distribute to police forces free of charge and for them to deploy according to their local knowledge. We continue to work to explore what more could be done to increase availability of defibrillators more generally where this is within the remit of the Home Office, including through our ongoing engagement with the OurJay Foundation.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with his European counterparts on cooperation on aircraft development.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has continuous discussions with several European counterparts related to common platforms, such as A400M and Typhoon, and future capabilities. This includes continuous engagement with Italy as part of the delivery of our joint Global Combat Air Programme. We also have regular engagement with France and Germany to look to deliver interoperability in the development of our respective future combat air systems.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps his Department has taken to consult with rural community-owned businesses in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire in the development of its planned small business strategy.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government is committed to embedding the voice of small business into policy. The Department for Business and Trade has engaged with hundreds of individual SMEs across all sectors and regions as part of co-designing our SME Strategy. This has included roundtables to address topics such as high streets, markets and access to finance.
Engagement with individual SMEs will continue to be a priority up to and after the launch of the SME Strategy to assess the impact of these policies on SMEs across the UK in all rural and urban areas.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support businesses to take up digital technologies in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Hertfordshire Growth Hub provides businesses in Harpenden and Berkhamsted with support and advice on adopting digital technology. More widely, the industry-led SME Digital Adoption Taskforce will soon publish its final recommendations on how Government and industry can work together to increase SME uptake of digital technology across the UK. Building these capabilities will form part of our forthcoming SME Strategy.
Our Industrial Strategy also set out ambitions, informed by the Technology Adoption Review, to increase digital adoption in eight growth-driving sectors. This includes up to £99m for the Made Smarter Adoption programme to help manufacturing SMEs adopt digital technologies.