Written questions by Naismith.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the private hire vehicle licensing framework in supporting traditional private hire operators and app-based platforms operating across multiple local authority areas.

The taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime in England is archaic, fragmented and inconsistent. We are considering, holistically, how the regulation of the sector could be reformed to achieve the best overall outcome for passengers by enabling the sector to deliver the range of safe, available, affordable and accessible services they need. The Department issues guidance to licensing authorities in England to help achieve consistency in the application of licensing requirements. We are seeking a power through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to enable the setting of national standards to ensure robust standards are applied by all licensing authorities.

Whether the Department plans to review or update the statutory framework for private hire licensing to reflect changes in technology and operating models since the legislation was introduced.

The taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime in England is archaic, fragmented and inconsistent. We are considering, holistically, how the regulation of the sector could be reformed to achieve the best overall outcome for passengers by enabling the sector to deliver the range of safe, available, affordable and accessible services they need. The Department issues guidance to licensing authorities in England to help achieve consistency in the application of licensing requirements. We are seeking a power through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to enable the setting of national standards to ensure robust standards are applied by all licensing authorities.

What guidance she provides to local licensing authorities on what constitutes an operating base for private hire operators; and whether the Department has assessed the adequacy of existing definitions in the context of app-based operator models.

No guidance has been issued on this matter. An ‘operating base’ is not defined in law. All guidance is kept under review and the need for any amendments or additions considered. The Department consulted on revised best practice guidance in 2022 and it was subsequently updated in 2023. The licensing regime in England is archaic, fragmented and inconsistent. We are considering, holistically, how the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles could be reformed to achieve the best overall outcome for passengers by enabling the sector to deliver the range of safe, available, affordable and accessible services they need.

What steps his Department is taking to help support people who live permanently on boats and use red diesel in the context of (a) fuel cost relief and (b) other support schemes.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have put the industry on notice that they are monitoring fuel prices closely, including red diesel which is one of the fuel types used by people living on boats. Officials and Ministers are meeting regularly with the CMA to discuss the situation, and will not hesitate to take action if companies are found to have breached consumer protection law. The planned inflation increase on fuel duty for 2026-27 has been cancelled, and Government stands ready to take any necessary action to ensure that consumers are getting a fair deal.

Communities and Local Government, (a) what steps his Department is taking to improve public understanding of the planning process, specifically the distinct roles and responsibilities of statutory consultees such as the Environment Agency and Lead Local Flood Authorities in assessing flood risk, surface water drainage, and rainfall modelling for planning applications; and (b) whether he plans to review guidance for applicants, local authorities and the public.

Guidance on planning and flood risk, including the role of the Environment Agency and Lead Local Flood Authorities in assessing planning applications can be found on gov.uk here. The government recently consulted on reforms to the statutory consultee system to improve clarity, proportionality and public understanding of the planning process and the roles and responsibilities of statutory consultees, including the Environment Agency and Lead Local Flood Authorities. The proposed reforms place greater emphasis on clearer, more accessible guidance and standing advice, reducing unnecessary referrals, and ensuring statutory consultees focus on matters where their expertise adds the greatest value. The consultation closed on 13 January 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish a response in due course.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that young people from constituencies such as Crewe and Nantwich will have direct opportunities to shape, monitor and influence the rollout of the National Youth Strategy.

We will be engaging with local authorities and partners across the country to amplify youth voices through Youth Councils and other mechanisms, so that a diverse range of young people have a role in shaping decisions that affect their lives.This may look different in every place, and we are eager to work with young people to co-design what this looks like in their local area, including Crewe and Nantwich.The reporting and governance process across government will allow young people to hold us to account on what we are doing. This will be through a national hearing by young people every year to discuss progress and priorities on the delivery of the strategy.

What steps her Department is taking to support consumers to switch to electric vehicles.

The Government has committed £7.5 billion over the next decade to support industry and the public as they transition to zero emission vehicles. This includes the £2 billion Electric Car Grant, which has already supported over 80,000 drivers who have benefited from discounts of up to £3,750 across more than 40 models. This also includes the £600 million funding to support the rollout of charging infrastructure, with 118,321 public chargers installed already as of 1 March 2026.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support the transition required under the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that public charging provision, grid capacity, and local authority support keep pace with the increased number of electric vehicles expected as a result of the zero emission vehicles mandate on the automotive industry.

As of March 2025, there are over 118,000 public chargers across the UK. Both the 2024 NAO ‘public chargepoints for electric vehicles’ report, and the Climate Change Committee 2025 Progress report, concluded that charge point rollout is on track.The majority of public chargepoints will be delivered by industry, who have already committed £6 billion of private sector investment before 2030. The Government’s £400 million Local Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Fund supports local authorities in England to leverage significant private investment and is expected to deliver over 100,000 further local public charge points.We are confident that the Grid can support the transition to EVs. The National Energy System Operator is investing over £58 billion to modernise and expand the electricity network.

Media and Sport, when the Government intends to begin the review of the statutory duty on local authorities to provide a sufficient youth offer, and whether this review will consider strengthening statutory protections to ensure equal access to high quality youth services nationwide.

In September 2023 DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. In the longer-term, we will explore reviewing the current local authorities’ statutory duty for youth services to empower them to better deliver on their responsibilities for youth services. The timeline for this review is not yet finalised.

Media and Sport, what mechanisms her Department will put in place to ensure transparent and ongoing accountability for the delivery of the National Youth Strategy, including how progress against its commitments will be reported to Parliament and to the public.

Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy, will put young people from all backgrounds in the driving seat when it comes to decisions that affect their own lives. We are committed to being accountable to young people, their parents/carers, sector partners, and the wider public to deliver this strategy. Every year, our department will invite a diverse group of young people to run a national hearing on the delivery of the strategy. This process will be co-designed with young people. We will also publish an interim delivery progress report in 2027.

What steps his Department is taking to identify and close remaining loopholes in the UK’s sanctions and maritime regulatory regime that allow UK linked shipping companies or insurers to support the transport of Russian liquefied natural gas, whether directly or indirectly.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 5 February 2026 to Question 109565. Since then, the UK has sanctioned a further 6 targets in Russia’s Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) industry including ships, traders and Russia’s Portovaya and Vysotsk terminals responsible for exporting Russian LNG, as part of our most recent sanctions package announced on 24 February 2026.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of investment‑market volatility on retirees using income drawdown arrangements; and if she will conduct a review of (a) pension provider fee structures, particularly charging full management fees during periods of negative fund performance and (b) the adequacy of safeguards for retirees who are reliant on drawdown income.

Individuals do face both investment and longevity risk in today’s Defined Contribution pension landscape, That can include investment risk during retirement. The government is acting to help savers manage these risk, including via the introduction of default pensions through the Pension Schemes Bill. This will ensure that savers in workplace defined contribution schemes have a default solution in place for retirement, helping secure a sustainable income in later life. Trustees and providers will need to consider how the solution they put in place help protect individuals from investment and longevity risks. FCA rules already require drawdown providers to provide annual statements to consumers which contain enough information for them to review their position. This ensures that consumers can make choices regarding their drawdown arrangements on an informed basis.

What plans his Department has to regulate the domestic heating‑oil industry; and what steps he is taking to ensure that households, particularly off‑grid rural households, are protected from price surges.

The Government intends to strengthen consumer protections in the domestic heating‑oil market, informed by the Competition and Markets Authority’s ongoing examination of the sector, which it announced on 20 March. The CMA also announced on 11 March that it is moving quickly to get to the bottom of troubling reports from heating oil customers about cancelled orders and sudden price increases. In parallel, the Government has made available £53M to support low-income families who heat their homes with oil to help tackle surging prices.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the allocation process for newly qualified doctors in the Foundation Programme is accessible for applicants with disabilities and long‑term health conditions; and whether he is taking steps to review how reasonable adjustments are assessed and applied within that process.

NHS England recognises the specific challenges that some applicants face, and the UK Foundation Programme runs a process to accommodate the needs of applicants with exceptional circumstances.The pre-allocation process allows applicants with a health condition or disability who have an absolute requirement to continue receiving specialist healthcare treatment and ongoing follow-up for the condition in a specific location to apply for a foundation school in that area. All pre-allocation requests are reviewed so that the process is as fair and transparent as possible.All applicants for the Foundation Programme must also complete a Transfer of Information Guidance form which helps foundation schools identify any support or adjustments needed for doctors with health conditions or disabilities.If necessary, doctors with a health condition or disability may additionally apply for a transfer to a specific foundation school once allocated, as part of the Inter-foundation School Transfer process.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential combined impact of the 2025 Budget announcement introducing pay per mile charges on electric vehicles, particularly its effect on consumer demand for EVs, and the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate on manufacturers; and what steps her Department is taking to balancing these measures to support businesses in the automotive supply chain.

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028, to create a fair tax system whilst also taking steps to ensure that driving an electric vehicle (EV) remains an attractive choice for consumers. The rate of eVED for EVs will be half of the equivalent fuel duty rate paid by the average petrol/diesel driver, ensuring that EVs are cheaper to own and run for the majority of EV drivers. Alongside eVED, the Government also announced at Budget 2025 generous additional support to incentivise the use of electric vehicles, including £1.3 billion of additional funding for the Electric Car Grant (ECG), £200 million for chargepoint rollout, and increasing the VED Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) threshold to £50,000 for EVs. To support manufacturers and the automotive sector supply chain, the Government announced an extension of funding for the Drive 35 (Driving Research & Investment in Vehicle Electrification) programme and a delay to proposed changes to Employee Car Ownership Schemes (ECOS) alongside transitional arrangements. As set out by the OBR, the estimated net impact of eVED and other Budget measures, including the ECG and ECS, is 120,000 fewer new EV sales across the forecast period. This is against a baseline which assumes EV sales more than triple from 2025-26 levels by 2030-31, which means the net impact of eVED represents only 2% of total new EV sales in the period. The Government has set out expected impacts from eVED and other Budget measures in the Budget 2025 Policy Costings document at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

What steps the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is taking to reduce the time taken to process driving licence renewal applications referred to its medical department.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. In the interests of road safety, the DVLA must be satisfied that the required medical standards are met before a licence is issued. Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer to process as the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued. The DVLA is currently experiencing an increase in both the volume and complexity of driving licence applications from people with one or more medical conditions. Unfortunately this has led to longer waiting times for some customers. In 2024/25 the DVLA made more than 830,000 medical licensing decisions with forecasts showing that more than 925,000 medical applications and notifications will be received in 2025/26. To keep up with growing customer demand and to offer a better service, the DVLA is updating its online service and is launching a new casework system which will deliver significant improvements to drivers with medical conditions. These enhancements, alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with medical applications and answer telephone calls, will deliver real improvements for customers.

What steps she is taking to help mitigate changes in construction costs and land prices linked to anticipated HS2 development in Crewe; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those changes on local public projects.

As part of the Northern Growth Strategy, the government set out its intention to ultimately deliver a North-South new line between Birmingham and Manchester. This is not a reinstatement of HS2 and the government is yet to determine exactly what will be delivered and to what specification. Significant further work is required to develop plans before such decisions are made. We will engage with stakeholders, including Local Authorities, as this work takes place.

What assessment she has made of the affordability of HMRC’s policy requiring people with Self-Assessment liabilities above £3,000 to enter into time to pay arrangements subject to interest; and whether she has considered reviewing the interest rate applied to those arrangements to ensure that individuals experiencing loss of income or financial hardship are not disproportionately affected.

HMRC provides support to taxpayers who are unable to pay their tax liabilities in full through time to pay arrangements. Taxpayers should contact HMRC as soon as possible so we can support them by working to negotiate time to pay what they owe based on their income and expenditure, designed to help customers pay what they owe in smaller, sustainable instalments. They are a longstanding option available to businesses and individuals who are in temporary financial difficulty and can be amended if the customers’ circumstances change.Late payment interest is charged whenever tax is paid late and continues to accrue on amounts not paid on time, even if those amounts are included in a time to pay arrangement. HMRC’s interest rates are set by statutory instrument. It is open to us to alter the rates, and we keep this under review. The rate balances the need to encourage payment, ensure fairness for those who do pay on time, the cost to the public purse of delayed payment, and affordability. Time to pay, and the guidance offered by HMRC advisers, is the mechanism by which additional support is given where needed. If the rate of late payment interest is too low, HMRC may become the lender of first preference to some customers, impairing our ability to efficiently collect taxes and fund public services. HMRC’s debt balance grew significantly during the pandemic, and there is a risk of anything that encourages taxpayers to delay payment will further increase this. HMRC’s interest rate was linked to the Base of England base rate (BOE) in 2009 to introduce an element of independence in the rate setting. HMRC late payment rate is set in legislation as BOE +4% from April 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to increase defence spending alongside a reduction in the international aid budget on spending priorities for global development objectives and international commitments.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 19 March outlining the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for the period up to 2028-29, and to the accompanying documents setting out the impact of those allocation decisions. I also refer him to the evidence provided by the Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State for Development at the International Development Committee on 24 March, where they addressed questions at length about the Government's ODA policies and allocation decisions.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on reducing litter as part of delivering a circular economy; when her Department plans to publish the Circular Economy Strategy, including proposals for litter prevention and the reduction of litter related waste; and what steps her Department is taking through that Strategy to reduce reliance on overseas processing of waste.

Littering is a local issue. The role of central Government is to enable and support local action by providing a clear legal framework of rights and responsibilities and setting national standards. Local councils have legal powers to take enforcement action against littering offenders. Anyone caught littering may be prosecuted in a magistrates’ court. Alternatively, councils may decide to issue a fixed penalty (on-the-spot fine) of up to £500. To support local councils to make good use of their fixed penalty powers for littering and related offences we have laid new Statutory Guidance, Litter enforcement powers: when and how to use them, in Parliament. Local authorities will need to have regard to this guidance when using their powers, which is available at: Litter enforcement powers: when and how to use them - GOV.UKWe have also laid the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse statutory guidance in Parliament which outlines the standards expected of local authorities and other duty bodies (e.g. National Highways) with regards to their duty to keep their land clear of litter and refuse. This guidance can be found on: Code of practice on litter and refuse - GOV.UKThis Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. This systemic change, with investment in green jobs and vital infrastructure, builds a path to economic growth, progress towards Net Zero, restoration of nature, and a more resilient economy.We intend to publish a Circular Economy Growth Plan that sets out how government will deliver a more circular and more prosperous economy. The Plan will set out the biggest opportunities to support growth in sectors right across the economy, including: agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; textiles; and transport.