Every parliamentary written question tabled by Daisy Cooper this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 452 · this parliament
With reference to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 99812 on Railway Stations: CCTV, on what date CCTV systems at St Albans City Station will be integrated with (a) British Transport Police and (b) Hertfordshire Constabulary systems.
Further to the answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 99812, this work is in progress by Network Rail who are delivering the project on behalf of the rail industry. These details are not yet available.
What steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of jobs for newly qualified (a) nurses, (b) doctors and (c) other medical professionals.
Awaiting answer.
With reference to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 99813 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, how many and what proportion of ratepayers who will see no increases were eligible for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief in 2025-26.
Over half of all ratepayers will see no bill increases from the 2026 business rates revaluation, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Furthermore, most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less in 2026/27, or £800 for the smallest. The Government has introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties. The RHL multipliers are being paid for through a high-value multiplier on the top one per cent of most expensive properties, including many large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of permitting shared ownership staircasing valuations to be (a) appealed and (b) negotiated by shared owners using evidence of significant local variations between (i) RICS valuations and (ii) actual sale prices of (1) similar and (2) identical properties.
Awaiting answer.
Whether she will produce new guidance on how to complete an Indefinite Leave to Remain application for families holding BNO citizenship, where one or more family members visa expiration date differs to the rest of the family.
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route guidance already sets out the requirements for settlement, including the need for applicants to complete a period of five years’ continuous residence in the UK.Applications under the BN(O) route are considered on an individual basis, and families have flexibility in when they apply, which can result in differing visa expiry dates between family members. Where this occurs, individuals may need to make a further application to extend their leave in order to qualify for settlement.We keep all guidance under regular review to ensure it remains clear and up to date.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of ending multiple assessments for amputees to qualify for benefits.
Awaiting answer.
What steps she will take to reduce reliance on rest-day working to operate timetabled passenger rail services on the Thameslink route when the operator is nationalised.
Awaiting answer.
If she will approve funding for (a) the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme and (b) Midland Mainline capacity improvement to mitigate forecasted capacity constraints on the Thameslink route.
Awaiting answer.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to Section 51 of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, when he will lay regulations to delegate the power to set fees for planning applications to local planning authorities.
Between 23 March and 18 May 2026, the government consulted on establishing a new national default fee schedule and the key principles behind local fee setting. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. Subject to the outcome of that consultation, we intend to lay the necessary regulations this year.
What steps he will take to reduce waiting times for those seeking a remedial service statement via Capita for their Civil Service Pension.
Capita, having assumed responsibility for the Civil Service Pension Scheme in December 2025, is currently preparing a delivery plan for the remaining 2015 Remedy work. The Cabinet Office expects the majority of the remaining Remediable Service Statements (RSS) will be issued by April 2027.
What progress her department has made in increasing the availability of driving tests in St Albans since 3 November 2025.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is intensifying its efforts to reduce waiting times and improve access to driving tests. DVSA is continuing with its recruitment campaigns for new driving examiners. Since November 2025, for those test centres serving the St Albans area, seven driving examiners have successfully passed their training and are now conducting driving tests, with a further two driving examiners being booked onto a training course. Following a recent recruitment campaign, DVSA has made offers of employment to a further eight driving examiners in this area. The table below shows the number of tests booked and available at the driving test centres (DTCs) serving St Albans of 11 May 2026. Driving test centre (DTC)Booked tests (as of 11 May 2026)Tests available in 24 week booking window (as of 11 May 2026)Borehamwood4,801187St Albans2,069103Watford5,713339 Between June 2025 – April 2026, at the DTCs above, DVSA conducted 144 additional car practical driving tests in overtime, when compared to the equivalent overtime scheme between June 2024 – March 2025. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme the agency introduced in June 2025.
What steps she will take to improve the processing times for ILR applications for Syrian nationals.
On 14 July 2025, we published updated country information which enabled decision making on Settlement Protection applications for refugees from Syria to resume. Protection claims can now be processed and safe return reviews conducted where required in line with published policy for any Syrian nationals applying for Settlement Protection.The department is currently processing a large backlog of outstanding settlement applications. Cases are generally being considered in date order unless there is a specific reason to take them out of turn.Each application is considered on its individual merits and due to the significant change in the country’s situation, there could be instances where further evidence may need to be gathered to assess these applications and determine if there is an ongoing need for protection.If anyone has submitted a Settlement Protection application before their permission to stay expires, the conditions of their previous grant of permission to stay have been extended whilst awaiting a decision on their application, under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971.We will not remove anyone to their own or any other country where they would face persecution or serious harm.
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Lifetime ISA property cap threshold for (a) England and (b) St Albans constituency.
Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values. At Autumn Budget 2025, the Government announced that it will consult on introducing a new, first-time buyer only savings product that will provide the bonus when a person uses it to buy a house, giving savers flexibility in case their circumstances change. Details of the new scheme will be set out as part of the consultation in due course. The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister and (b) Israel’s ambassador to the UK on (i) the welfare of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and (ii) access to detention facilities for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 6 August 2025 in response to Question 68153.
If he will bring forward from 2032 the New Hospital Programme construction work to redevelop Watford General hospital should capacity become available.
Watford General Hospital is part of Wave 2 of the New Hospital Programme, as set out in the published Plan for Implementation. Pre-construction activity, which includes business case development and enabling works, is expected to commence from 2028, with main construction expected to begin between 2032 and 2034. There are no current plans to bring forward the construction timetable for the scheme. As set out in the Plan for Implementation, delivery expectations may be subject to change depending on local and national factors and the programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.
What assessment he has made of the adequacy of acute mental health inpatient places in Hertfordshire.
Awaiting answer.
If he will take legislative steps to end the five year rule on investigating sexual misconduct cases before the House rises for summer recess.
The Government is committed to modernising the regulation of all healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom.As a first step, on 24 March 2026, we published our Reforming the General Medical Council legislative framework consultation, which sets out proposals to modernise the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) regulatory framework. The consultation runs until 23 June 2026. More information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-general-medical-council-legislative-framework/reforming-the-general-medical-council-legislative-framework-consultation-documentThe draft General Medical Council Order 2026 includes a modernised fitness to practise process for the GMC, which does not enable the GMC to replicate the five-year rule in its fitness to practise rules for doctors.Subject to the outcome of the consultation and the parliamentary process, the Government expects to lay the General Medical Council Order 2026 later this year.
With reference to the Answer of 14 April 2026 to Question 127101 on Cancer: Vaccination, (a) (i) how many and (ii) which pharmaceutical companies attended the NHS England webinar in 2025, and (b) (i) how many and (ii) which pharmaceutical companies have since expressed an interest in working with the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.
The Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform that is increasing access and speeding up recruitment to clinical trials for personalised cancer vaccines and other immunotherapies for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. In 2025, the scope of the CVLP was expanded beyond personalised cancer vaccines to also include other immunotherapies. NHS England is responsible for the overall delivery of the CVLP and has contracted the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit to manage the day-to-day delivery of the platform. The platform is designed to be company and clinical trial agnostic so any company can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research.NHS England hosted a webinar in 2025, and representatives from 12 pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies attended. Since then, discussions have been held with 15 companies to explore potential support from the CVLP. NHS England cannot release the names of the companies as this is commercially sensitive information.The list of clinical trials supported by the CVLP that were previously or are currently open to recruitment can be viewed on the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit website.
With reference to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 99812 on Railway Stations: CCTV, whether bike thefts will be included in the assessment of railway stations with the highest crime levels when prioritising CCTV integration across the network.
Further to the answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 99812, this work is in progress by Network Rail who are delivering the project on behalf of the rail industry. These details are not yet available.
What steps she will take to increase the number of places available for educational psychology courses at universities in England.
The department is investing £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists over two cohorts who started their studies in 2024 and 2025 as part of the Educational Psychology Funded Training scheme. This is in addition to the £10 million already being invested in the training of more than 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.