Written questions by Dance.

What steps she is taking to address the barriers faced by pension holders in Yeovil constituency seeking to access their financial data from private pension providers.

The Government is developing pensions dashboards which will allow people to view their pensions picture, including State Pension, securely and in one place online. Relevant occupational, personal and stakeholder pension schemes are legally required to connect to pensions dashboards and provide pensions information upon request. This will help people to reconnect with their pension pots and better plan for retirement.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the weekly State Pension rate for people in (a) rural communities and (b) Yeovil constituency.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the State Pension provides a foundation for income in retirement. From the end of this Parliament, spending on the State Pension is forecast to be around £31 billion more a year, compared with 2024/25 as a result of our commitment to protect the Triple Lock. This will see pensioners’ yearly incomes rising by up to £1,900. Several benefits provide supplementary support for those on low incomes. This includes direct financial help to low-income pensioners through Pension Credit, the Warm Home Discount and (in England & Wales) Cold Weather Payments. The Household Support Fund in England also provides discretionary support towards the cost of essentials. All pensioners also continue to benefit from free eye tests, free NHS prescriptions and free bus passes. The Department continues to monitor pensioner outcomes and benefit take-up to ensure support reaches those who need it most.

What consideration the Curriculum and Assessment Review will give to the (a) needs of and (b) challenges faced by students with dyscalculia.

​​The Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, is actively considering the needs and challenges faced by all pupils in accessing the national curriculum and making sure that they are all able to achieve high and rising standards.​The review is thoroughly examining the key challenges to attainment faced by children and young people in mainstream education, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.The Review is committed to ensuring all pupils have access to a broad curriculum and achieve positive outcomes.​This government remains committed to enhancing inclusivity within mainstream schools and the review’s final report and recommendations will be published in autumn, at which point the government will respond.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of NICE guidelines on treatments for restless leg syndrome.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not developed any guidelines on the diagnosis and/or management of restless leg syndrome (RLS) and has not evaluated any treatments for this condition. NICE has, however, commissioned a Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on the diagnosis and clinical management of RLS, which was updated in February 2025, and which can be used as a source of information for healthcare professionals. This CKS is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/There are currently no plans to develop a NICE guideline on RLS. NICE has an established prioritisation process overseen by a prioritisation board, for the identification of priorities for guidance development. Anyone is able to suggest a topic through the NICE website, at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/forms/topic-suggestion

What steps she is taking to reduce the rate of child poverty in Yeovil constituency.

Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is a priority for this Government. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments. As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan. Our commitments at the 2025 Spending Review come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

What steps he is taking to support people in Yeovil constituency with restless leg syndrome.

We are committed to supporting people with restless leg syndrome and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate.Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy and care plan in place, the majority of people with restless leg syndrome can be cared for through routine access to primary, secondary, and community care services. Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Somerset ICB which covers the Yeovil constituency, are responsible for commissioning most services for people with restless leg syndrome. ICBs are best placed to plan the provision of services to meet the needs of their local population.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a clinical knowledge summary (CKS) on restless leg syndrome, which is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/CKS’ are designed to collate and summarise all the guidance and evidence on specific topics and they are a source of supporting information mainly for National Health Service staff working in primary care. The CKS for restless leg syndrome recognises that iron deficiency and dysfunction of iron metabolism are likely causes of restless leg syndrome, and states that a full iron assessment, including ferritin, total iron-binding capacity, and percentage transferrin saturation, should be requested for patients with restless leg syndrome. If iron deficiency anaemia is found, or serum ferritin levels are less than 50 to 75 micrograms per litre, clinicians should investigate to identify a cause of iron deficiency and prescribe iron supplements.We do not hold data on the time taken for patients to receive a diagnosis of restless leg syndrome after first presenting with relevant symptoms.

What steps she is taking to support secondary school children with dyscalculia in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

​​This government’s ambition is to deliver an excellent, inclusive education for every child with a world class curriculum and highly trained, expert teachers. In November 2024, the department established the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, who will make recommendations on the best ways to support and meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream education settings. We have also commissioned evidence reviews from University College London, which will highlight the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people with different types of needs.​The Maths Hubs programme, which is funded by the department, is a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly-funded schools. It covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach, which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils. Boolean Maths Hub works with schools, academies and colleges to support the continuous improvement of mathematics education across the west of England, including Somerset.​The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics offers a Further Education Mastery Specialist Programme for post-16 GCSE mathematics resit and Functional Skills Maths teachers. This programme, delivered through Maths Hubs, aims to develop teachers' expertise in teaching for mastery approaches and enable them to support others in their institutions.

What steps she is taking to support students with dyscalculia in further education settings.

​​This government’s ambition is to deliver an excellent, inclusive education for every child with a world class curriculum and highly trained, expert teachers. In November 2024, the department established the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, who will make recommendations on the best ways to support and meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream education settings. We have also commissioned evidence reviews from University College London, which will highlight the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people with different types of needs.​The Maths Hubs programme, which is funded by the department, is a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly-funded schools. It covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach, which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils. Boolean Maths Hub works with schools, academies and colleges to support the continuous improvement of mathematics education across the west of England, including Somerset.​The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics offers a Further Education Mastery Specialist Programme for post-16 GCSE mathematics resit and Functional Skills Maths teachers. This programme, delivered through Maths Hubs, aims to develop teachers' expertise in teaching for mastery approaches and enable them to support others in their institutions.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time taken for restless leg syndrome to be identified in patients who present relevant symptoms in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset, and (c) England.

We are committed to supporting people with restless leg syndrome and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate.Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy and care plan in place, the majority of people with restless leg syndrome can be cared for through routine access to primary, secondary, and community care services. Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Somerset ICB which covers the Yeovil constituency, are responsible for commissioning most services for people with restless leg syndrome. ICBs are best placed to plan the provision of services to meet the needs of their local population.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a clinical knowledge summary (CKS) on restless leg syndrome, which is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/CKS’ are designed to collate and summarise all the guidance and evidence on specific topics and they are a source of supporting information mainly for National Health Service staff working in primary care. The CKS for restless leg syndrome recognises that iron deficiency and dysfunction of iron metabolism are likely causes of restless leg syndrome, and states that a full iron assessment, including ferritin, total iron-binding capacity, and percentage transferrin saturation, should be requested for patients with restless leg syndrome. If iron deficiency anaemia is found, or serum ferritin levels are less than 50 to 75 micrograms per litre, clinicians should investigate to identify a cause of iron deficiency and prescribe iron supplements.We do not hold data on the time taken for patients to receive a diagnosis of restless leg syndrome after first presenting with relevant symptoms.

What steps she is taking to support primary school children with dyscalculia in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

​​This government’s ambition is to deliver an excellent, inclusive education for every child with a world class curriculum and highly trained, expert teachers. In November 2024, the department established the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, who will make recommendations on the best ways to support and meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream education settings. We have also commissioned evidence reviews from University College London, which will highlight the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people with different types of needs.​The Maths Hubs programme, which is funded by the department, is a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly-funded schools. It covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach, which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils. Boolean Maths Hub works with schools, academies and colleges to support the continuous improvement of mathematics education across the west of England, including Somerset.​The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics offers a Further Education Mastery Specialist Programme for post-16 GCSE mathematics resit and Functional Skills Maths teachers. This programme, delivered through Maths Hubs, aims to develop teachers' expertise in teaching for mastery approaches and enable them to support others in their institutions.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing access to iron infusions for patients with restless leg syndrome in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (c) England.

We are committed to supporting people with restless leg syndrome and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate.Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy and care plan in place, the majority of people with restless leg syndrome can be cared for through routine access to primary, secondary, and community care services. Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Somerset ICB which covers the Yeovil constituency, are responsible for commissioning most services for people with restless leg syndrome. ICBs are best placed to plan the provision of services to meet the needs of their local population.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a clinical knowledge summary (CKS) on restless leg syndrome, which is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/CKS’ are designed to collate and summarise all the guidance and evidence on specific topics and they are a source of supporting information mainly for National Health Service staff working in primary care. The CKS for restless leg syndrome recognises that iron deficiency and dysfunction of iron metabolism are likely causes of restless leg syndrome, and states that a full iron assessment, including ferritin, total iron-binding capacity, and percentage transferrin saturation, should be requested for patients with restless leg syndrome. If iron deficiency anaemia is found, or serum ferritin levels are less than 50 to 75 micrograms per litre, clinicians should investigate to identify a cause of iron deficiency and prescribe iron supplements.We do not hold data on the time taken for patients to receive a diagnosis of restless leg syndrome after first presenting with relevant symptoms.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of mandating three point seatbelts to be fitted on coaches in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) other rural areas.

The Department for Transport is committed to improving road safety and incidents involving buses and coaches are rare – national casualty statistics indicate that they are one of the safest forms of road transport. Vehicle construction regulations are applied nationally, rather than on a constituency or other geographic basis, and have required all buses and coaches to be fitted with seat belts since 2001, except for those designed and authorised to carry standing passengers. In large vehicles where the deceleration forces of a collision are generally lower than for smaller vehicles, a lap belt only is permitted providing other design criteria are met to prevent or limit injury. In smaller vehicles, or where these other design criteria cannot be met, a three-point belt is required. International vehicle construction requirements, including those covering seat belts, are developed through the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, where they are kept under review to ensure they evolve to continuously drive forward vehicle safety.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust's decision to cease using fire co-responders in category on cardiac medical emergencies on the viability of fire stations in the South West.

Collaboration between emergency services has a vital role to play in keeping the public safe in a way that optimises efficiency and effectiveness. However, it is for local emergency service providers to decide what collaborative activities will best serve their communities’ needs.

What steps she is taking to support people with arthritis who may be impacted by changes to Personal Independence Payments in Yeovil constituency.

We have committed in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill to introduce a new requirement that claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. This will target PIP at people who have a higher level of functional need in at least one area. Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. We are mindful of the impact this change to PIP eligibility could have on people. That is why we have committed that existing claimants who lose eligibility as a result of these changes will continue to receive PIP and its associated benefits and entitlements for 13 weeks following their award review. This protection is non-negotiable and is included on the face of the Bill. This transitional cover is one of the most generous ever and more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.Meanwhile, in the Green Paper we are consulting on what else is needed to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure that health and eligible care needs are met.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of exempting people with cystic fibrosis from prescription charges.

The Department has no plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate, for exemption from prescription charges.Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there are a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which those with cystic fibrosis may be eligible.Eligibility for these exemptions depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. Prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) are also available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three-month and 12-month certificates available. To help spread the cost, people can pay for an annual PPC by ten monthly direct debits. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.

What steps she is taking to support people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome impacted by changes to Personal Independence Payments.

We have committed in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill to introduce a new requirement that claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. This will target PIP at people who have a higher level of functional need in at least one area. Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. We are mindful of the impact this change to PIP eligibility could have on people. That is why we have committed that existing claimants who lose eligibility as a result of these changes will continue to receive PIP and its associated benefits and entitlements for 13 weeks following their award review. This protection is non-negotiable and is included on the face of the Bill. This transitional cover is one of the most generous ever and more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.Meanwhile, in the Green Paper we are consulting on what else is needed to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure that health and eligible care needs are met.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help tackle the effects of land banking by property developers in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60243 on 24 June 2025.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of completing a road safety strategy for Yeovil constituency.

This Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing a Road Safety Strategy and are considering a variety of measures which will have national reach. More details will be set out in due course.

What assessment he has made of the need for minor eye care surgery services in Yeovil constituency.

Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population, and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.

How many homes have been upgraded under the Warm Homes Plan in Yeovil constituency as of 16 June 2025.

The Government is investing £13.2 billion in the Warm Homes Plan over the Spending Review period, in line with the Manifesto commitment. This is a major step forward in the government’s plans to upgrade up to 5 million homes, including those in the Yeovil constituency, over this Parliament and cut energy bills for good. Further detail on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out by October. The Department publishes Household Energy Efficiency Statistics. The detailed annual reports provide breakdowns of measures installed under various government support schemes. These are available at GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/household-energy-efficiency-national-statistics). Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund schemes began in April 2025. Statistics on the delivery of these schemes will be published in due course.