Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients accessed specialist weight management services operated by private providers through the Right to Choose pathway in the latest period for which data is available; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of funding provided to integrated care boards to support access to these services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients have a legal right to choose where they go for their first appointment when referred to consultant-led care as an outpatient. Patients can choose a clinically appropriate provider who holds a contract for the provision of National Health Services. This includes independent sector providers who hold contracts with integrated care boards (ICBs) across the country to deliver services for the NHS.
The Department does not hold data on whether patients were either offered a choice, or requested a choice, by provider or speciality pathway.
ICBs are responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area, in line with local population need and taking account of relevant guidance. This includes specialist weight management services, which are commissioned and funded by ICBs. NHS England has provided additional funding for ICBs to develop their obesity care pathways to support the roll out of some obesity medicines that have previously only been available in specialist weight management services.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new house builds have been (a) started and (b) completed since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government publishes quarterly data on planning applications and housing starts and completions.
The latest data on planning application statistics can be found on gov.uk here.
Data on housing starts and completions can be found on gov.uk here.
The main measure of housing supply is net additional dwellings, the latest data on which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain requirements on the viability of small and medium-sized housing schemes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has recently consulted on how to improve biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development. This included options on exemptions and potential reduced thresholds for minor development. The Government is considering responses and will publish a summary of responses received as well as a Government response in due course.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the projected house building completion targets are in (a) 2025, (b) 2026, (c) 2027, (d) 2028 and (e) 2029 in the context of the Government’s pledge to build 1.5 million new homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19066 on 20 December 2024.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will issue guidance on the proportion of new build homes that must be fully accessible to (a) people with limited mobility and (b) wheelchair users.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 53184 on 27 May 2025.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when her Department plans to publish the (a) findings of and (b) next steps from its consultation entitled Improving car driving test booking rules, published on 28 May 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.
These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests.
DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. Since July last year, DVSA has recruited and trained 290 driving examiners (DE) who are now in post and delivering driving tests.
St Albans driving test centre is part of a cluster of test centres, including Stevenage.
A new entrant examiner has recently passed their training course and is now testing full time and conducting driving tests at both St Albans and Stevenage driving test centres. A further new entrant examiner is in their final week of training, if successful they will begin conducting tests at St Albans and Stevenage from 3 November 2025. DVSA has also made offers to one further new entrant examiner, DVSA will arrange their training course as soon as they have accepted.
On 28 May, DVSA launched a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. The consultation closed on 23 July. DVSA will review the feedback given and announce next steps as soon as possible. Further information on the consultation can be found at:
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of driving tests in St Albans.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.
These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests.
DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. Since July last year, DVSA has recruited and trained 290 driving examiners (DE) who are now in post and delivering driving tests.
St Albans driving test centre is part of a cluster of test centres, including Stevenage.
A new entrant examiner has recently passed their training course and is now testing full time and conducting driving tests at both St Albans and Stevenage driving test centres. A further new entrant examiner is in their final week of training, if successful they will begin conducting tests at St Albans and Stevenage from 3 November 2025. DVSA has also made offers to one further new entrant examiner, DVSA will arrange their training course as soon as they have accepted.
On 28 May, DVSA launched a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. The consultation closed on 23 July. DVSA will review the feedback given and announce next steps as soon as possible. Further information on the consultation can be found at:
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the expiry of tariff free quotas under the former UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement on (a) levels of investment in the UK and (b) economic growth.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Canada is a close ally and valued partner of the UK, and the UK-Canada Trade (TCA) Continuity Agreement underpinned £28 billion worth of bilateral trade in 2024.
Several of the TCA’s provisions, as negotiated by the previous government, were time limited and expired in 2024 .
We continue to work with the Canadian Government to resolve this, including at the WTO and through the new UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 75980, on MHCLG: Travel, if he will breakdown the requested information for each month of the last six months.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Question 75980 does not relate to travel. If the Rt Hon Member can clarify his question, I will ensure he receives a response.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK–US trade deal on bioethanol imports on the UK’s sustainable aviation fuel sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As part of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal, the UK created a preferential duty-free quota for imports of US ethanol of 1.4bn litres per year. The UK already imports a significant amount of ethanol from the US. DBT officials continue to work closely with other government departments to monitor and assess risks across the supply chain. The Government is actively supporting the Sustainable Aviation Fuel sector. We have allocated £63m in this financial year to support SAF producers through the Advanced Fuels Fund and committed further support throughout the Spending Review period.