Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) number and (b) proportion of people who obtained a driving licence in the last 10 years after a previous conviction for death by dangerous driving committed a further motoring offence.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested is not held. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is not informed when an individual is released from prison, and endorsements ordered upon conviction by the courts for the offences of causing death by careless driving or causing death by dangerous driving are removed from the driver’s record after four years in line with the retention periods for these offences.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of cuts to teacher training bursaries in 26/27 on teacher recruitment in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government committed, in our Plan for Change, to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and in colleges, over the course of this parliament.
We are making progress. The latest workforce data reported over 2,300 more secondary and special school teachers in 2024/25 than in 2023/24, and this year over 32,000 trainees began training, a rise of 11% on the previous year.
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. In reviewing these annually, we take account of historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. We are continuing to offer bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free to encourage more talented people to train to teach key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
In addition, we offer a Targeted Retention Incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools. In Lincolnshire, there are 56 schools where teachers are eligible for these payments.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the number of medical schools to ensure more doctors are trained in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, the Office for Students (OfS) sets the maximum fundable limit for medical school places on an annual basis.
For the 2025/26 academic year, the OfS has published the maximum fundable limit at 8,126 for medical school places, with further information available on the OfS website, in an online only format. OfS will publish the limit for the 2026/27 academic year in due course.
The Government is committed to training the staff we need, including doctors, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. International staff, including doctors, remain an important part of our workforce but we are committed to building and increasing our domestic home-grown talent from across all of our communities.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of permitting crop-based biofuels to be eligible under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate on investment in (1) waste-based biofuels, and (2) e-fuels.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
On 22 December 2025 the Department for Transport published a call for evidence to gather views and update our evidence base on crop-derived sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The call for evidence will improve our understanding of the impacts and interactions of deploying crop feedstocks in SAF on feedstock availability, industrial development, and on sustainability. This will include considering the impact on food prices, biodiversity, and investment in waste-based biofuels and e-fuels.
This reflects our commitment to ensure our policies are informed by the best and most recent evidence. The call for evidence does not propose any changes to the SAF Mandate. In the light of the responses to the call for evidence, should there be a case to review the feedstock eligibility criteria, it would be subject to consultation before any legislative change.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of permitting crop-based biofuels to be eligible under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate on (a) food prices, and (b) biodiversity.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
On 22 December 2025 the Department for Transport published a call for evidence to gather views and update our evidence base on crop-derived sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The call for evidence will improve our understanding of the impacts and interactions of deploying crop feedstocks in SAF on feedstock availability, industrial development, and on sustainability. This will include considering the impact on food prices, biodiversity, and investment in waste-based biofuels and e-fuels.
This reflects our commitment to ensure our policies are informed by the best and most recent evidence. The call for evidence does not propose any changes to the SAF Mandate. In the light of the responses to the call for evidence, should there be a case to review the feedstock eligibility criteria, it would be subject to consultation before any legislative change.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their rationale is for increasing the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) cost-effectiveness thresholds for assessing new medicines to £25–30,000 per quality-adjusted life year; and whether they plan to apply the same proportionate increases to the NICE cost-effectiveness thresholds for highly specialised technologies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have reached a landmark agreement with the United States of America that secures a preferential tariff rate of 0% for all pharmaceuticals exports to the US for at least three years, and preferential terms for the United Kingdom’s medical technology exports, meaning no additional new tariffs on medical technology. This means that, unlike anywhere else in the world, life sciences companies exporting medicines from the UK to the US will face no tariffs to do so, protecting jobs and investment in the UK.
The agreement will see the National Health Service invest approximately 25% more in innovative treatments which will be achieved through an increase to the standard cost-effectiveness threshold that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) uses and a change to the way in which NICE values health benefits to better reflect societal preferences.
There are currently no plans to increase the cost‑effectiveness threshold for the highly specialised technologies (HST) programme. The HST programme already operates at a much higher threshold than standard NICE technology appraisals, reflecting the challenges of bringing treatments for very rare conditions to market, and NICE has been able to recommend nearly all the treatments that have been evaluated through the HST programme for NHS use.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of adjusting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence cost-effectiveness thresholds for highly specialised technology in line with the new single technology appraisal cost-effectiveness thresholds due to come into effect from April.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have reached a landmark agreement with the United States of America that secures a preferential tariff rate of 0% for all pharmaceuticals exports to the US for at least three years, and preferential terms for the United Kingdom’s medical technology exports, meaning no additional new tariffs on medical technology. This means that, unlike anywhere else in the world, life sciences companies exporting medicines from the UK to the US will face no tariffs to do so, protecting jobs and investment in the UK.
The agreement will see the National Health Service invest approximately 25% more in innovative treatments which will be achieved through an increase to the standard cost-effectiveness threshold that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) uses and a change to the way in which NICE values health benefits to better reflect societal preferences.
There are currently no plans to increase the cost‑effectiveness threshold for the highly specialised technologies (HST) programme. The HST programme already operates at a much higher threshold than standard NICE technology appraisals, reflecting the challenges of bringing treatments for very rare conditions to market, and NICE has been able to recommend nearly all the treatments that have been evaluated through the HST programme for NHS use.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence highly specialised technology cost-effectiveness threshold on patient access to rare disease medicines.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have reached a landmark agreement with the United States of America that secures a preferential tariff rate of 0% for all pharmaceuticals exports to the US for at least three years, and preferential terms for the United Kingdom’s medical technology exports, meaning no additional new tariffs on medical technology. This means that, unlike anywhere else in the world, life sciences companies exporting medicines from the UK to the US will face no tariffs to do so, protecting jobs and investment in the UK.
The agreement will see the National Health Service invest approximately 25% more in innovative treatments which will be achieved through an increase to the standard cost-effectiveness threshold that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) uses and a change to the way in which NICE values health benefits to better reflect societal preferences.
There are currently no plans to increase the cost‑effectiveness threshold for the highly specialised technologies (HST) programme. The HST programme already operates at a much higher threshold than standard NICE technology appraisals, reflecting the challenges of bringing treatments for very rare conditions to market, and NICE has been able to recommend nearly all the treatments that have been evaluated through the HST programme for NHS use.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 5 January (HL13176), what safeguards they plan to put in place to ensure that integrated care boards are subject to proper scrutiny, particularly in relation to the incorporation of patient engagement work into the commissioning of services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards currently have a statutory duty in relation to public involvement and consultation and are subject to an annual assessment by NHS England of their functions.
The abolition of Healthwatch England and Local HealthWatch arrangements will require primary legislation and is subject to the will of Parliament.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she will publish The Schools White Paper covering SEND matters.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
To create a reformed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system that will stand the test of time, we have undertaken a national engagement campaign on SEND reform, building on extensive engagement over the past year with children, young people, parents and professionals.
The upcoming Schools White Paper will outline our proposed SEND reforms and will be followed by a formal consultation and further engagement.