Lisa Smart MP: written questions
579 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Company LiquidationsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39990More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce stricter limits on the number of businesses that an individual can (a) incorporate and (b) manage after multiple company liquidation
Answer: Company and insolvency law already provides relevant authorities with the ability to investigate the conduct of directors of liquidated companies and to act upon misconduct. Imposing prescriptive prohibitions risks penalising the innocent and we have no p...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCompany LiquidationsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39989More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to improve regulatory oversight of company directors with a history of multiple liquidations.
Answer: Company and insolvency law already provides relevant authorities with the ability to investigate the conduct of directors of liquidated companies and to act upon misconduct. Imposing prescriptive prohibitions risks penalising the innocent and we have no p...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement PensionsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 19 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39622More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to review the application of (a) National Insurance contributions and (b) home responsibilities protection in cases where an individual was contracted out of the Additio
Answer: Before 6 April 2016, people were able to contract-out of the Additional State Pension. For the years they were contracted-out, they would be entitled to the basic State Pension only. When assessing State Pension eligibility under both the pre-2016 and new...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: AssessmentsDepartment for EducationTabled 19 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39621More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes made by exam boards on pupils (a) with SEND and (b) with poor working memory.
Answer: It is vital that students with special educational needs and disabilities can access exams and assessments without disadvantage. The Equality Act 2010 requires exam boards to make reasonable adjustments where a student with disabilities would be at a subs...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnglish Language and Mathematics: GCSEDepartment for EducationTabled 19 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39620More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) GCSE and (b) equivalent assessments in (i) Mathematics and (ii) English prioritise the evaluation of students' analytical and problem-solving skills.
Answer: High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Re...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: ApplicationsHome OfficeTabled 19 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39619More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the requirement for children born in the UK to parents with refugee status to make a separate asylum claim to obtain refugee status on people wi
Answer: Under the Immigration Rules protection status can only be granted when an individual’s protection needs have been considered and they are found to be eligible for refugee status in their own right.All asylum decisions must demonstrate that the child’s bes...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordRefugees: ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 19 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39618More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce an (a) expedited and (b) automatic process for granting refugee status to children born in the UK to parents with existing refugee status.
Answer: Under the Immigration Rules protection status can only be granted when an individual’s protection needs have been considered and they are found to be eligible for refugee status in their own right.All asylum decisions must demonstrate that the child’s bes...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: ApplicationsHome OfficeTabled 19 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39617More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the requirement for children born in the UK to parents with refugee status making separate asylum claims to obtain refugee status on
Answer: Under the Immigration Rules protection status can only be granted when an individual’s protection needs have been considered and they are found to be eligible for refugee status in their own right.All asylum decisions must demonstrate that the child’s bes...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMultiple BirthsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39161More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the mental health of parents of (a) twin and (b) multiples.
Answer: Support is already available for parents, including those of twins and multiples, who experience mental health difficulties during the perinatal period. Perinatal mental health services are available in all 42 integrated care system areas of England, and ...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMultiple BirthsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39160More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the health risks for mothers giving birth to (a) twins and (b) multiples.
Answer: The Government is determined to ensure that all women receive safe, personalised, and compassionate care and continues to work with the National Health Service as it delivers its three-year maternity and neonatal plan to achieve this.The latest data shows...
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordOffshore Industry: Skilled WorkersDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39159More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support workers in the North Sea Oil and Gas industry in the transition towards net zero.
Answer: The consultation on ‘Building the North Sea’s energy future’ sets out the Government’s plans for accelerating investment in net zero, creating high-quality jobs for oil and gas workers. It seeks views on how to best support workers and communities through...
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordListed Places of Worship Grant SchemeDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39158More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing funding for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on levels of economic growth.
Answer: DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impacts of various options to scale the scheme. We believe that the changes announced will continue the widest distribution of...
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordListed Places of Worship Grant SchemeDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39157More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department produced an impact assessment prior to the announcement of changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
Answer: DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme including careful consideration of the impacts of the changes.
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordListed Places of Worship Grant SchemeDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39156More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to enable the completion of projects (a) partly and (b) fully funded through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme that are (i) soon-to-start and (ii) p
Answer: The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme gives grants covering VAT costs only on repairs of over £1,000 to listed buildings used as places of worship.Guidance has now been published on changes to the Scheme from 1 April 2025.Listed places of worship with...
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39155More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the potential implications of changes to disability benefits on health and social care services.
Answer: We are investing almost £26 billion of extra funding for the Health and Social Care System so people can get the treatment they need to get back to work instead of being stuck on waiting lists, delivering over 2 million extra appointments 7 months ahead o...
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39154More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing disability benefit on the health of people with long term and fluctuating conditions.
Answer: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course. An important consideration in the case for abolishing the Work Capability Assessment is the inappropriateness of its binary distinction between “capable of wor...
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMultiple SclerosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39153More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide symptom management treatments to support people with multiple sclerosis to (a) manage their condition and (b) remain in employment.
Answer: The majority of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of MS care that patients may receive from 27 neurology centres across England. With...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSuicideDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 17 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38706More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of closing the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund on organisations engaged in suicide prevention activities.
Answer: The Suicide Prevention Grant Fund came to an end on 31 March 2025, as planned from the outset of the grant. There are currently no plans to run another grant fund.Voluntary and community sector organisations play a valuable role in suicide prevention, inc...
Answered 16 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordFire and Rescue Services: SuicideHome OfficeTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38415More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of contacts that UK Fire and Rescue Services have had with (a) people experiencing suicidal ideation and (b) where a suicide is in progress; and if
Answer: The Home Office collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) through the Incident Recording System (IRS), with this including non-fire incidents such as suicide / attempts. This data is published available here: https://www.gov.u...
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordDriver and Vehicle Licensing AgencyDepartment for TransportTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38414More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce safeguards to help tackle (a) errors and (b) delayed updates by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in (i) cases where initial penalty charge notices are issued and
Answer: It is a legal requirement for the keeper of a vehicle to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any changes to details on the vehicle record including a change of address or when someone has bought or sold a vehicle. This can be done by ...
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFoster CareDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38413More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered broadening the range of foster care representative bodies it engages with on policy development.
Answer: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is keen to ensure that the department meets with stakeholders from across the fostering sector, so that a variety of voices are heard. Departmental officials meet with foster carers and young peop...
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFoster Care: Registration and RegulationDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38412More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered alternative models for the (a) oversight and (b) registration of foster carers; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of alternative models on the adeq
Answer: The department is considering the merits of a national register of foster carers. We will continue to review the costs and benefits of a national register versus our other investments into foster care.We recognise that some stakeholders are in favour of a...
Answered 29 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCare Leavers: HousingDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38411More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support care leavers after the age of 21 to help ensure that they have stable living arrangements.
Answer: Supporting care leavers to make a successful transition from care to independence is a priority for this government.Housing and concerns about accommodation rank as one of the highest worries for care leavers, and for professionals trying to support them....
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFoster Care: PaymentsDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38410More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) weekly minimum payments and (b) other financial support provided to foster carers.
Answer: The ‘Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards’ set out the expectations that are placed on foster carers and their agencies at standard 28. The department is clear that no one should be financially disadvantaged because of their fostering role, and ...
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordBank Services: Direct DebitsTreasuryTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38409More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 20062 on Bank Services: Direct Debits, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that organisations receiving payments via Direct Debit are held accountable
Answer: Direct Debits are subject to rules made by Pay.UK, a private sector payment system operator that is regulated by the Bank of England and Payment Systems Regulator. In order to receive Direct Debit payments, businesses and other organisations must be ‘spon...
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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